Single-cell transcriptomics reveals the cellular identity of a novel progenitor population crucial for murine neural tube closure.

ABSTRACT: Neural tube closure in vertebrates is achieved through a highly dynamic and coordinated series of morphogenic events involving neuroepithelium, surface ectoderm, and neural plate border. Failure of this process in the caudal region causes spina bifida. Grainyhead-like 3 (GRHL3) is an indispensable transcription factor for neural tube closure as constitutive inactivation of the Grhl3 gene in mice leads to fully penetrant spina bifida. Here, through single-cell transcriptomics we show that at E8.5, the time-point preceding mouse neural tube closure, co-expression of Grhl3, Tfap2a, and Tfap2c defines a previously unrecognised progenitor population of surface ectoderm integral for neural tube closure. Deletion of Grhl3 expression in this cell population using

SUBMITTER: Deng Z 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11408003 | biostudies-literature | 2024 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature