Project description:Craniosynostosis is a disease defined by premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures. The mechanistic pathology of isolated single-suture craniosynostosis is complex and while a number of genetic biomarkers and environmental predispositions have been identified, in many cases the causes remain controversial and inconclusive at best. After controlling for variables contributing to potential bias, FGF7, SFRP4, and VCAM1 emerged as potential genetic biomarkers for single-suture craniosynostosis due to their significantly large changes in gene expression compared to the control population. Furthermore, pathway analysis implicated focal adhesion and extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction as differentially regulated gene networks when comparing all cases of single-suture synostosis and controls. Lastly, overall gene expression was found to be highly conserved between coronal and metopic cases, as evidenced by the fact that WNT2 and IGFBP2 were the only differentially regulated genes identified in a direct comparison. These results not only confirm the roles of previously reported craniosynostosis-related targets but also introduce novel genetic biomarkers and pathways that may play critical roles in its pathogenesis. In this study, gene expression data from 199 patients with isolated sagittal (n= 100), unilateral coronal (n = 50), and metopic (n = 49) synostosis are compared against both a control population (n = 50), as well as each other.
Project description:Craniosynostosis is a disease defined by premature fusion of one or more cranial sutures. The mechanistic pathology of isolated single-suture craniosynostosis is complex and while a number of genetic biomarkers and environmental predispositions have been identified, in many cases the causes remain controversial and inconclusive at best. After controlling for variables contributing to potential bias, FGF7, SFRP4, and VCAM1 emerged as potential genetic biomarkers for single-suture craniosynostosis due to their significantly large changes in gene expression compared to the control population. Furthermore, pathway analysis implicated focal adhesion and extracellular matrix (ECM)-receptor interaction as differentially regulated gene networks when comparing all cases of single-suture synostosis and controls. Lastly, overall gene expression was found to be highly conserved between coronal and metopic cases, as evidenced by the fact that WNT2 and IGFBP2 were the only differentially regulated genes identified in a direct comparison. These results not only confirm the roles of previously reported craniosynostosis-related targets but also introduce novel genetic biomarkers and pathways that may play critical roles in its pathogenesis.
Project description:Craniosynostosis is a congenital craniofacial disorder marked by premature suture fusion and aberrant skull morphogenesis. Yet the cellular dynamics and regulatory mechanisms of suture mesenchymal stem cells (SuSCs) in this disease remain largely unknown. Here, we present a comprehensive spatiotemporal atlas of SuSCs integrating single-cell and 2 μm-resolution spatial transcriptomics in Fgfr2C342Y/+, a model that recapitulates features of human Crouzon syndrome, alongside wild-type controls across three key developmental stages (E14.5, E18.5, and P3). By integrating morphology-based cell segmentation with machine-learning classification, we achieved single-cell spatial resolution in mapping Visium HD data. Leveraging this resource, we reveal disruptions in SuSC fate, niche composition, and intercellular signaling across developmental stages in craniosynostotic sutures. Downstream analyses identify Foxa3 as a master transcriptional regulator of these fate shifts and implicate specific immune- and suture meningeal fibroblast–derived signals in driving pathological ossification. Together, our work fills a gap in disease-model single-cell spatial-omics, providing a high-resolution roadmap of SuSC dynamics in craniosynostosis and uncovering candidate molecular targets for future therapeutic strategies
Project description:Suture mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) drives calvarial suture development, homeostasis, and regeneration. Its loss leads to craniosynostosis, a prevailing craniofacial disorder characterized by premature suture closure. Ribosome biogenesis, historically thought to be a static house-keeping process, is now known to have tissue-specific roles. However, the functional specificity of ribosome biogenesis in suture MSCs remains largely unexplored, hampering development of therapeutic strategies for craniofacial tissue regeneration. We genetically perturb ribosome biogenesis using Snord118, a small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) required for ribosomal RNA (rRNA) maturation. MSC specific conditional knockout (cKO) of Snord118 in mice leads to p53 activation, cell death, mesenchymal and MSC loss, impaired osteogenic and osteoclastic activity, resulting in suture growth and craniosynostosis defects. Using our newly established human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived MSCs combined with ribosome profiling, we found that SNORD118deficiency in MSCs causes global translation dysregulations and downregulation of complement pathway, a part of innate immune system with selective but poorly characterized physiological functions in craniofacial tissue homeostasis. Overall, ribosome biogenesis controls suture MSC fate via selective regulation of complement pathway.
Project description:Craniosynostosis is a congenital craniofacial disorder marked by premature suture fusion and aberrant skull morphogenesis. Yet the cellular dynamics and regulatory mechanisms of suture mesenchymal stem cells (SuSCs) in this disease remain largely unknown. Here, we present a comprehensive spatiotemporal atlas of SuSCs integrating single-cell and 2 μm-resolution spatial transcriptomics in Fgfr2C342Y/+, a model that recapitulates features of human Crouzon syndrome, alongside wild-type controls across three key developmental stages (E14.5, E18.5, and P3). By integrating morphology-based cell segmentation with machine-learning classification, we achieved single-cell spatial resolution in mapping Visium HD data. Leveraging this resource, we reveal disruptions in SuSC fate, niche composition, and intercellular signaling across developmental stages in craniosynostotic sutures. Downstream analyses identify Foxa3 as a master transcriptional regulator of these fate shifts and implicate specific immune- and suture meningeal fibroblast–derived signals in driving pathological ossification. Together, our work fills a gap in disease-model single-cell spatial-omics, providing a high-resolution roadmap of SuSC dynamics in craniosynostosis and uncovering candidate molecular targets for future therapeutic strategies.
Project description:Suture mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) drives calvarial suture development, homeostasis, and regeneration. Its loss leads to craniosynostosis, a prevailing craniofacial disorder characterized by premature suture closure. Ribosome biogenesis, historically thought to be a static house-keeping process, is now known to have tissue-specific roles. However, the functional specificity of ribosome biogenesis in suture MSCs remains largely unexplored, hampering development of therapeutic strategies for craniofacial tissue regeneration. We genetically perturb ribosome biogenesis using Snord118, a small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA) required for ribosomal RNA (rRNA) maturation. MSC specific conditional knockout (cKO) of Snord118 in mice leads to p53 activation, cell death, mesenchymal and MSC loss, impaired osteogenic and osteoclastic activity, resulting in suture growth and craniosynostosis defects. Using our newly established human induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC)-derived MSCs combined with ribosome profiling, we found that SNORD118deficiency in MSCs causes global translation dysregulations and downregulation of complement pathway, a part of innate immune system with selective but poorly characterized physiological functions in craniofacial tissue homeostasis. Overall, ribosome biogenesis controls suture MSC fate via selective regulation of complement pathway.
Project description:Purpose: The cranial suture is a fibrous joint, and similar to the growth plates of the skeletal long bone, they serve as the major centers of calvarial vault morphogenesis. Our group’s identification of a skeletal stem cell isolated from the mouse tibial growth plate prompted us to investigate whether these skeletal stem cells are also resident in the mouse cranial sutures and if they govern postnatal suture patency or fusion. Results: We preformed a spatio-temporal profiling of the mouse cranial sutures by flow cytometry, demonstrating a significant decrease in the temporal representation of skeletal stem cells in fusing versus patent sutures. Moreover, canonical Wnt signaling has a significant impact on skeletal stem cells proliferation and thus representation within the suture, dictating fate: fusion or patency. Breeding an Axin2+/-LacZ mouse, with enhanced activation of canonical Wnt signaling to a Twist1+/− mouse, harboring a coronal craniosynostosis enriched the skeletal stem cell pool in coronal sutures, thereby preventing Twist1+/− craniosynostosis. Conclusions: Our findings suggest an imbalance and/or decrease in resident skeletal stem cells within the cranial sutures gives rise to craniosynostosis, however, restoring this representation by enriching skeletal stem cells within the suture can maintain patency.
Project description:Purpose: The cranial suture is a fibrous joint, and similar to the growth plates of the skeletal long bone, they serve as the major centers of calvarial vault morphogenesis. Our group’s identification of a skeletal stem cell isolated from the mouse tibial growth plate prompted us to investigate whether these skeletal stem cells are also resident in the mouse cranial sutures and if they govern postnatal suture patency or fusion. Results: We preformed a spatio-temporal profiling of the mouse cranial sutures by flow cytometry, demonstrating a significant decrease in the temporal representation of skeletal stem cells in fusing versus patent sutures. Moreover, canonical Wnt signaling has a significant impact on skeletal stem cells proliferation and thus representation within the suture, dictating fate: fusion or patency. Breeding an Axin2+/-LacZ mouse, with enhanced activation of canonical Wnt signaling to a Twist1+/− mouse, harboring a coronal craniosynostosis enriched the skeletal stem cell pool in coronal sutures, thereby preventing Twist1+/− craniosynostosis. Conclusions: Our findings suggest an imbalance and/or decrease in resident skeletal stem cells within the cranial sutures gives rise to craniosynostosis, however, restoring this representation by enriching skeletal stem cells within the suture can maintain patency.
Project description:Sutures separate the flat bones of the skull and enable coordinated growth of the brain and overlying cranium. In order to uncover the cellular diversity within sutures, we conducted single-cell transcriptomic and histological analyses of the embryonic murine coronal suture. We identify Erg and Pthlh as early markers of osteogenic progenitors in sutures, and distinct pre-osteoblast signatures between the bone fronts and periosteum. diverse mesenchymal layers at the coronal suture, including multiple distinct meningeal layers below the suture, and ligamentous, ectocranial, and hypodermal layers above the sutureIn the ectocranial layers above the suture, we observe a ligament-like population spanning the frontal and parietal bones and expressing genes implicated in mechanosensation. Mesenchyme in and around the coronal suture is asymmetrically distributed between the frontal and parietal bones, and we identify different states of osteogenic cells extending from the bone fronts into the more mature bone, and a potential signature for sutural stem cellsIn the meningeal layers, we detect a potential chondrogenic periosteal dura population that may be involved in endochondral ossification that closes sutures. Expression of genes mutated in craniosynostosis is spread across diverse cell types, suggesting multiple points at which homeostasis can fail. This single-cell atlas provides a resource to understand the development of the coronal suture, the suture most commonly fused in craniosynostosis.