Project description:Primary cilia play critical roles in sensory and signaling functions, and their dysregulation is associated with developmental abnormalities and multi-organ diseases. Despite their importance, the transcriptional regulation of primary cilia genes is unclear. Here, we employed transcriptome and mouse genetic tools to identify a master regulator of primary cilia genes. By comparing ciliated and non-ciliated cells in the early embryo using scRNA-seq and ChIP-seq, we uncovered that a wide spectrum of primary cilia genes are upregulated in ciliated cells and that SP5/8 within the SP/KLF family of transcription factors bind a core set of cilia genes. Loss- and gain-of-function assays in mouse embryos and embryonic stem cells demonstrate Sp5/8, are required for the initial formation of primary cilia in all embryonic cell types. Moreover, Sp5/8 loss compromises the formation of the more specialized motile cilia present in the embryonic node. Finally, misexpression of SP8 is sufficient to induce primary cilia formation in two unciliated cell types. Our findings demonstrate that SP5/8 are essential for cilia initiation in the embryo and sufficient to drive cilia formation in unciliated cells.
Project description:Primary cilia play critical roles in sensory and signaling functions, and their dysregulation is associated with developmental abnormalities and multi-organ diseases. Despite their importance, the transcriptional regulation of primary cilia genes is unclear. Here, we employed transcriptome and mouse genetic tools to identify a master regulator of primary cilia genes. By comparing ciliated and non-ciliated cells in the early embryo using scRNA-seq and ChIP-seq, we uncovered that a wide spectrum of primary cilia genes are upregulated in ciliated cells and that SP5/8 within the SP/KLF family of transcription factors bind a core set of cilia genes. Loss- and gain-of-function assays in mouse embryos and embryonic stem cells demonstrate Sp5/8, are required for the initial formation of primary cilia in all embryonic cell types. Moreover, Sp5/8 loss compromises the formation of the more specialized motile cilia present in the embryonic node. Finally, misexpression of SP8 is sufficient to induce primary cilia formation in two unciliated cell types. Our findings demonstrate that SP5/8 are essential for cilia initiation in the embryo and sufficient to drive cilia formation in unciliated cells.
Project description:Primary cilia play critical roles in sensory and signaling functions, and their dysregulation is associated with developmental abnormalities and multi-organ diseases1,2. Despite their importance, the transcriptional regulation of primary cilia genes is unclear. Here, we employed transcriptome and mouse genetic tools to identify a master regulator of primary cilia genes. By comparing ciliated and non-ciliated cells in the early embryo using scRNA-seq and ChIP-seq, we uncovered that a wide spectrum of primary cilia genes are upregulated in ciliated cells and that SP5/8 within the SP/KLF family of transcription factors bind a core set of cilia genes. Loss- and gain-of-function assays in mouse embryos and embryonic stem cells demonstrate Sp5/8, are required for the initial formation of primary cilia in all embryonic cell types. Moreover, Sp5/8 loss compromises the formation of the more specialized motile cilia present in the embryonic node. Finally, misexpression of SP8 is sufficient to induce primary cilia formation in two unciliated cell types. Our findings demonstrate that SP5/8 are essential for cilia initiation in the embryo and sufficient to drive cilia formation in unciliated cells.
Project description:Primary cilia play critical roles in sensory and signaling functions, and their dysregulation is associated with developmental abnormalities and multi-organ diseases. Despite their importance, the transcriptional regulation of primary cilia genes is unclear. Here, we employed transcriptome and mouse genetic tools to identify a master regulator of primary cilia genes. By comparing ciliated and non-ciliated cells in the early embryo using scRNA-seq and ChIP-seq, we uncovered that a wide spectrum of primary cilia genes are upregulated in ciliated cells and that SP5/8 within the SP/KLF family of transcription factors bind a core set of cilia genes. Loss- and gain-of-function assays in mouse embryos and embryonic stem cells demonstrate Sp5/8, are required for the initial formation of primary cilia in all embryonic cell types. Moreover, Sp5/8 loss compromises the formation of the more specialized motile cilia present in the embryonic node. Finally, misexpression of SP8 is sufficient to induce primary cilia formation in two unciliated cell types. Our findings demonstrate that SP5/8 are essential for cilia initiation in the embryo and sufficient to drive cilia formation in unciliated cells.
Project description:Sp5 is a target and critical transducer of the Wnt/beta-catenin signaling pathway and is essential for mesoderm differentiation in vertebrate embryos. We established a doxycycline inducible ES cell line to over-express Flag epitope-tagged Sp5 protein in differentiating ES cells which have the capacity to form mesoderm cells in vitro. The goal of this study was to identify the genes/gene networks regulated by Sp5 to understand how it regulates mesoderm differentiation by identifying important target genes which may mediate its activity. Total RNA was extracted from ES cells after 3 days of differentiating following F-Sp5 over-expression from day 2 to 3. We compared the transcriptome of differentially expressed genes between untreated (minus) and doxycycline treated (plus) ES cells to identify Sp5 regulated genes.