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Transcriptional profiling of fetal hypothalamic TRH neurons

ABSTRACT: During murine hypothalamic development, different neuroendocrine cell phenotypes are generated in overlapping periods; this suggests that cell-type specific developmental programs operate to achieve complete maturation. A balance between programs that include cell proliferation, cell cycle withdrawal as well as epigenetic regulation of gene expression characterizes neurogenesis. Thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) is a peptide that regulates energy homeostasis and autonomic responses. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying TRH neuron development, we performed a genome wide study of its transcriptome during fetal hypothalamic development. In primary cultures, TRH cells constitute 2% of the total fetal hypothalamic cell population. To purify these cells, we took advantage of the fact that the segment spanning –774 to +84 bp of the Trh gene regulatory region confers specific expression of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the TRH cells. Transfected TRH cells were purified by fluorescence activated cell sorting, various cell preparations pooled, and their transcriptome compared to that of GFP- hypothalamic cells. TRH cells undergoing the terminal phase of differentiation, expressed genes implicated in protein biosynthesis, intracellular signaling and transcriptional control. Among the transcription-associated transcripts, we identified the transcription factors Klf4, Klf10 and Atf3, which were previously uncharacterized within the hypothalamus. To our knowledge, this is the first report identifying transcripts with a potentially important role during the development of a specific hypothalamic neuronal phenotype. This genome-scale study forms a rational foundation for identifying genes that might participate in the development and function of hypothalamic TRH neurons.

ORGANISM(S): Rattus norvegicus

PROVIDER: GSE28441 | GEO | 2011/05/27

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA139251

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:During murine hypothalamic development, different neuroendocrine cell phenotypes are generated in overlapping periods; this suggests that cell-type specific developmental programs operate to achieve complete maturation. A balance between programs that include cell proliferation, cell cycle withdrawal as well as epigenetic regulation of gene expression characterizes neurogenesis. Thyrotropin releasing hormone (TRH) is a peptide that regulates energy homeostasis and autonomic responses. To better understand the molecular mechanisms underlying TRH neuron development, we performed a genome wide study of its transcriptome during fetal hypothalamic development. In primary cultures, TRH cells constitute 2% of the total fetal hypothalamic cell population. To purify these cells, we took advantage of the fact that the segment spanning –774 to +84 bp of the Trh gene regulatory region confers specific expression of the green fluorescent protein (GFP) in the TRH cells. Transfected TRH cells were purified by fluorescence activated cell sorting, various cell preparations pooled, and their transcriptome compared to that of GFP- hypothalamic cells. TRH cells undergoing the terminal phase of differentiation, expressed genes implicated in protein biosynthesis, intracellular signaling and transcriptional control. Among the transcription-associated transcripts, we identified the transcription factors Klf4, Klf10 and Atf3, which were previously uncharacterized within the hypothalamus. To our knowledge, this is the first report identifying transcripts with a potentially important role during the development of a specific hypothalamic neuronal phenotype. This genome-scale study forms a rational foundation for identifying genes that might participate in the development and function of hypothalamic TRH neurons. Hypothalamic primary cultures were prepared from E17 rat embryos. Twenty-four hours after seeding, cells were transfected using the minimal Trh promoter (-776/+84 bp) upstream of the GFP. Forty-eight hours after transfection, cells were trypsinized and subjected to FACS. TRH+ cells were purified from a pool of five 60-mm dishes using the FACS Vantage (Becton Dickinson, San Jose, CA) and the exclusion method at high speed (60 µl/min). In general, 20,000 GFP+ cells were purified from 5 X 106 cells. The microarray analysis was performed as described in the Affymetrix expression analysis technical manual (http://www.affymetrix.com). Total RNA (10 µg) was extracted from three different cell populations: i) sorted TRH-GFP+ cells (GFP+); ii) TRH-GFP+ and GFP- mixed cells (GFP+/-) passed through the FACS but not sorted, and iii) non transfected cells (NT). To obtain a sufficient amount of RNA for each cell population, the number of independent experiments pooled for the GFP+ sample was higher than for the other samples. Therefore, a pool of six independent experiments was used to prepare total RNA from the GFP+ and three independent experiments for GFP+/- or NT cells.

Project description:Abstract: The Drosophila trachea is a branched tubular epithelia that transports oxygen and other gases. trachealess (trh), which encodes a bHLH-PAS transcription factor, is among the first genes to be expressed in the cells that will form the trachea. In the absence of trh, tracheal cells fail to invaginate to form tubes and remain on the embryo surface. Expression of many tracheal-specific genes depends on trh, but all of the known targets have relatively minor phenotypes compared to loss of trh, suggesting that there are additional targets. To identify uncharacterized transcriptional targets of Trh and to further understand the role of Trh in embryonic tracheal formation, we performed an in situ hybridization screen using a library of ~100 tracheal-expressed genes identified by the Berkeley Drosophila Genome Project (BDGP). Surprisingly, expression of every tracheal gene we tested was dependent on Trh, suggesting a major role for Trh in activation and maintenance of tracheal gene expression. A re-examination of the interdependence of the known early-expressed transcription factors, including trh, ventral veinless (vvl) and knirps/knirps-related (kni/knrl), suggests a new model for how gene expression is controlled in the trachea, with trh regulating expression of vvl and kni, but not vice versa. A pilot screen for the targets of Vvl and Kni/Knrl revealed that Vvl and Kni have only minor roles compared to Trh. Finally, genome-wide microarray experiments identified additional Trh targets and revealed that a of biological processes are affected by the loss of trh. Goals: The goals of the microarray experiments were to identify additional targets of the Trh transcription factor to learn the range of genes regulated by this transcription factor during embryogenesis. Our in situ screen revealed that Trh is required for all tested tracheal genes. Our new data now shows that Trh affects a range of biological processes. RNA was isolated from stage 11-16 wild type Drosophila embryos and compared to RNA from trh null mutant embryos of the same age; all samples were hybridized to the Drosophila Genome 2.0 Affymetrix array. Three individual replicates were obtained for each sample.

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Transcriptional profiling of fetal hypothalamic TRH neurons

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