Project description:Neural crest cells are migratory progenitor cells that contribute to nearly all tissues and organs throughout the body. Their formation, migration and differentiation are regulated by a multitude of signaling pathways, that when disrupted can lead to disorders termed neurocristopathies. While work in avian and amphibian species has revealed essential factors governing the specification and induction of neural crest cells during gastrulation and neurulation in non-mammalian species, their functions do not appear to be conserved in mice, leaving major gaps in our understanding of neural crest cell formation in mammals. Here we describe Germ Cell Nuclear Factor (GCNF/Nr6a1), an orphan nuclear receptor, as a critical regulator of neural crest cell formation in mice. Gcnf null mutant mice, exhibit a major disruption of neural crest cell formation. The purpose of this experiment is to examine gene expression changes in response to Gcnf mutation in E9.0 mouse embryos.
Project description:We analyzed the genome-wide binding of Sox2 and POU factor partner factors, Oct4 in ESCs (using published datasets PMID:18692474 and GSM307137, GSM307154, GSM307155) and Brn2 in NPCs. We found that Sox2 and Oct4 co-occupied a large subset of promoters and enhancers in ESCs, but that Sox2 and Brn2 co-occupy predominantly enhancers. Further, we overexpressed Brn2 in differentiating ESCs and showed that ectopic Brn2 recruited Sox2 to NPC-specific targets, resulting in skewed differentiation towards the neural lineage. Examination of transcription factor binding in ESCs, NPCs, and differentiating ESCs by ChIP-Seq.
Project description:We analyzed the genome-wide binding of Sox2 and POU factor partner factors, Oct4 in ESCs (using published datasets PMID:18692474 and GSM307137, GSM307154, GSM307155) and Brn2 in NPCs. We found that Sox2 and Oct4 co-occupied a large subset of promoters and enhancers in ESCs, but that Sox2 and Brn2 co-occupy predominantly enhancers. Further, we overexpressed Brn2 in differentiating ESCs and showed that ectopic Brn2 recruited Sox2 to NPC-specific targets, resulting in skewed differentiation towards the neural lineage.
Project description:We use optical induction of Brn2 to probe mechanisms for gating embryonic stem cell differentiation mRNA-seq time-course following Brn2 induciton
Project description:Neural crest cells are migratory progenitor cells that contribute to nearly all tissues and organs throughout the body. Their formation, migration and differentiation are regulated by a multitude of signaling pathways, that when disrupted can lead to disorders termed neurocristopathies. While work in avian and amphibian species has revealed essential factors governing the specification and induction of neural crest cells during gastrulation and neurulation in non-mammalian species, their functions do not appear to be conserved in mice, leaving major gaps in our understanding of neural crest cell formation in mammals. Here we describe Germ Cell Nuclear Factor (GCNF/Nr6a1), an orphan nuclear receptor, as a critical regulator of neural crest cell formation in mice. Gcnf null mutant mice, exhibit a major disruption of neural crest cell formation. The purpose of this experiment is to examine gene expression changes in response to Gcnf mutation in anterior and posterior cranial regions of E9.25 mouse embryos.
Project description:Lineage-specific transcriptional regulators control differentiation states not only during normal development but also during cancer evolution. By investigating super-enhancer landscape of lung squamous cell carcinoma (LUSC), we identified a unique ‘neural’ subtype defined by Sox2 and a neural lineage factor Brn2. Robust protein-protein interaction and genomic co-occupancy of these factors indicated their transcriptional cooperation in this ‘neural’ LUSC in contrast to the cooperation of Sox2 and p63 in the classical LUSC. Introduction of p63 expression in the “neural’ LUSC invoked the classical LUSC lineage accompanied by Brn2 downregulation and increased activities of ErbB/Akt and MAPK-ERK pathways. Collectively, our data demonstrate a unique LUSC lineage featured by Sox2 cooperation with Brn2 instead of p63, for which distinct therapeutic approaches may be warranted.
