Project description:We aimed to expand the knowledge of Fgf and Wnt signaling in the zebrafish tailbud. Both pathways are required for proper axis elongation and segmentation and we wished to explore the genes under the control of each pathway during this process. In addition, we saught to identify crosstalk between the two pathways by determining whether pathway effector expression was being changed after time-resolved modification of each pathway using pharmacological modifiers. Embryos were treated with either 0.3M LiCl, 50uM SU5402, or E2 for 3hours or 7 hours (E2 and SU5402), followed by tailbud dissection and RNA extraction. Conditions were replicated in triplicate.
Project description:We aimed to expand the knowledge of Fgf and Wnt signaling in the zebrafish tailbud. Both pathways are required for proper axis elongation and segmentation and we wished to explore the genes under the control of each pathway during this process. In addition, we saught to identify crosstalk between the two pathways by determining whether pathway effector expression was being changed after time-resolved modification of each pathway using pharmacological modifiers.
Project description:Both FGF and WNT pathways play important roles in embryonic development, stem cell self-renewal and are frequently deregulated in breast cancer. To study the cooperation between FGF and WNT signaling, we have generated a mouse model, MMTV-WNT1/MMTV-iFGFR1 (WNT/iR1), in which we could chemically overactivate iFGFR1 in a ligand-independent manner.
Project description:To identify the crosstalk between Wnt/β-catenin signaling activated cardiomyocytes (β-cat ON CMs) and coronary endothelial cells (coECs), we performed single-cell RNA sequencing on all the cells of the atrioventricular canal (AVC) at 1 month, which contains newly formed coronary vessels. To identify the extracellular ligands regulated by Wnt/β-catenin signaling, we also collected AVC from fish treated with DMSO or IWR1-endo, an inhibitor of Wnt/β-catenin signaling. Our analyses indicated that Fgf and/or Sema signaling are potential candidates for mediating the crosstalk between β-cat ON CMs and coECs.
Project description:Classical embryological studies revealed that during mid-embryogenesis vertebrates show similar morphologies. This âphylotypic stageâ has recently received support from transcriptome analyses, which have also detected similar stages in nematodes and arthropods. A conserved stage in these three phyla has led us to ask if all animals pass through a universal definitive stage as a consequence of ancestral constraints on animal development. Previous work has suggested that HOX genes may comprise such a âzootypicâ stage, however this hypothetical stage has hitherto resisted systematic analysis. We have examined the embryonic development of ten different animals each of a fundamentally different phylum, including a segmented worm, a flatworm, a roundworm, a water bear, a fruitfly, a sea urchin, a zebrafish, a sea anemone, a sponge, and a comb jelly. For each species, we collected the embryonic transcriptomes at ~100 different developmental stages and analyzed their gene expression profiles. We found dynamic gene expression across all of the species that is structured in a stage like manner. Strikingly, we found that animal embryology contains two dominant modules of zygotic expression in terms of their protein domain composition: one involving proliferation, and a second involving differentiation. The switch between these two modules involves induction of the zootype; which in addition to homeobox containing genes, also involves Wnt and Notch signaling as well as forkhead domain transcription factors. Our results provide a systematic characterization of animal universality and identify the points of embryological constraints and flexibility. 106 single embryo samples
Project description:Classical embryological studies revealed that during mid-embryogenesis vertebrates show similar morphologies. This “phylotypic stage” has recently received support from transcriptome analyses, which have also detected similar stages in nematodes and arthropods. A conserved stage in these three phyla has led us to ask if all animals pass through a universal definitive stage as a consequence of ancestral constraints on animal development. Previous work has suggested that HOX genes may comprise such a ‘zootypic’ stage, however this hypothetical stage has hitherto resisted systematic analysis. We have examined the embryonic development of ten different animals each of a fundamentally different phylum, including a segmented worm, a flatworm, a roundworm, a water bear, a fruitfly, a sea urchin, a zebrafish, a sea anemone, a sponge, and a comb jelly. For each species, we collected the embryonic transcriptomes at ~100 different developmental stages and analyzed their gene expression profiles. We found dynamic gene expression across all of the species that is structured in a stage like manner. Strikingly, we found that animal embryology contains two dominant modules of zygotic expression in terms of their protein domain composition: one involving proliferation, and a second involving differentiation. The switch between these two modules involves induction of the zootype; which in addition to homeobox containing genes, also involves Wnt and Notch signaling as well as forkhead domain transcription factors. Our results provide a systematic characterization of animal universality and identify the points of embryological constraints and flexibility.