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Rational derivation of midbrain dopamine neuron progenitors from hPSCs using a selective FZD5 antibody agonist [RNA-Seq]

ABSTRACT: Current ventral midbrain dopaminergic progenitor differentiation protocols utilize small molecule inhibitors targeting Glycogen synthase kinase-3 (GSK3) to activate Wnt signaling, a step required for the anterior-posterior patterning of the nervous system and acquisition of the midbrain fate. However, GSK3a and GSK3β are pleiotropic kinases involved in multiple signaling pathways and their inhibition is a known trigger of neurogenesis. We predicted that direct activation of specific Wnt receptors naturally involved during neural patterning would allow for a more precise spatiotemporal control of Wnt/β-catenin signaling and mimic endogenous cell-cell communication mechanisms to improve hPSC differentiation. Here, we characterized the expression of FZD receptors at the surface of neural progenitor cells with different regional identity. Our data shows that FZD5 expression is uniquely upregulated in anterior neural progenitors and is rapidly downregulated as cells adopt a posterior fate. This spatial regulation of Frizzled cell surface expression constitutes a novel regulatory mechanism adjusting the levels of β-catenin signaling along the anterior-posterior axis and possibly contribute to midbrain-hindbrain boundary formation. Using a tetravalent antibody that selectively triggers FZD5 and LRP6 clustering to activate Wnt/β-catenin signaling, we show that the resulting midbrain-patterned neural progenitors exhibit a gene expression program more closely aligned with the anatomical origin of dopaminergic neurons and could hence represent a more efficient source for cell transplant therapies.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE241041 | GEO | 2024/02/21

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:The process that partitions the nascent vertebrate central nervous system into forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain, and spinal cord after neural induction is of fundamental interest in developmental biology, and is known to be dependent on Wnt/beta-catenin signaling at multiple steps. Neural induction specifies neural ectoderm with forebrain character that is subsequently posteriorized by graded Wnt signaling: embryological and mutant analyses have shown that progressively higher levels of Wnt signaling induce progressively more posterior fates. However, the mechanistic link between Wnt signaling and the molecular subdivision of the neural ectoderm into distinct domains in the anteroposterior (AP) axis is still not clear. To better understand how Wnt mediates neural AP patterning, we performed a temporal dissection of neural patterning in response to manipulations of Wnt signaling in zebrafish. We show that Wnt-mediated neural patterning in zebrafish can be divided into three phases: (I) a primary AP patterning phase, which occurs during gastrulation, (II) a mes/r1 (mesencephalon-rhombomere 1) specification and refinement phase, which occurs immediately after gastrulation, and (III) a midbrain-hindbrain boundary (MHB) morphogenesis phase, which occurs during segmentation stages. A major outcome of these Wnt signaling phases is the specification of the major compartment divisions of the developing brain: first the MHB, then the diencephalic-mesencephalic boundary (DMB). The specification of these lineage divisions depends upon the dynamic changes of gene transcription in response to Wnt signaling, which we show primarily involves transcriptional repression or indirect activation. We show that otx2b is directly repressed by Wnt signaling during primary AP patterning, but becomes resistant to Wnt-mediated repression during late gastrulation. Also during late gastrulation, Wnt signaling becomes both necessary and sufficient for expression of wnt8b, en2a, and her5 in mes/r1. We suggest that the change in otx2b response to Wnt regulation enables a transition to the mes/r1 phase of Wnt-mediated patterning, as it ensures that Wnts expressed in the midbrain and MHB do not suppress midbrain identity, and consequently reinforce formation of the DMB. These findings integrate important temporal elements into our spatial understanding of Wnt-mediated neural patterning and may serve as an important basis of a better understanding of neural patterning defects that have implications in human health.

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Rational derivation of midbrain dopamine neuron progenitors from hPSCs using a selective FZD5 antibody agonist [RNA-Seq]

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