NFAT5/TonEBP controls early acquisition of notochord phenotypic markers, collagen composition, and sonic hedgehog signaling during mouse intervertebral disc embryogenesis.

ABSTRACT: High osmolarity, bound water, and hydrostatic pressure contribute to notochord mechanics and its morphogenesis into the nucleus pulposus (NP) compartment of the intervertebral disc. Indeed, the osmoadaptive transcription factor, nuclear factor of activated T-cells 5 (NFAT5 aka TonEBP), is robustly expressed by resident cells of the notochord and NP. Nevertheless, the molecular mechanisms that drive notochord osmoregulation and the functions of NFAT5 in disc embryogenesis remain largely unexplored. In this study, we show that deletion of NFAT5 in mice results in delayed vertebral column development and a reduced NP aspect ratio in the caudal spine. This phenotype is associated with lower levels of the T-box transcription factor, Brachyury, delayed expression of notochord phenotypic markers,

SUBMITTER: Tessier S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6842424 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature