» Articles » PMID: 32650116

Foxh1/Nodal Defines Context-Specific Direct Maternal Wnt/β-Catenin Target Gene Regulation in Early Development

Overview
Journal iScience
Publisher Cell Press
Date 2020 Jul 11
PMID 32650116
Citations 6
Authors
Affiliations
Soon will be listed here.
Abstract

Although Wnt/β-catenin signaling is generally conserved and well understood, the regulatory mechanisms controlling context-specific direct Wnt target gene expression in development and disease are still unclear. The onset of zygotic gene transcription in early embryogenesis represents an ideal, accessible experimental system to investigate context-specific direct Wnt target gene regulation. We combine transcriptomics using RNA-seq with genome-wide β-catenin association using ChIP-seq to identify stage-specific direct Wnt target genes. We propose coherent feedforward regulation involving two distinct classes of direct maternal Wnt target genes, which differ both in expression and persistence of β-catenin association. We discover that genomic β-catenin association overlaps with Foxh1-associated regulatory sequences and demonstrate that direct maternal Wnt target gene expression requires Foxh1 function and Nodal/Tgfβ signaling. Our results support a new paradigm for direct Wnt target gene co-regulation with context-specific mechanisms that will inform future studies of embryonic development and more widely stem cell-mediated homeostasis and human disease.

Citing Articles

Molecular basis for DNA recognition by the maternal pioneer transcription factor FoxH1.

Pluta R, Aragon E, Prescott N, Ruiz L, Mees R, Baginski B Nat Commun. 2022; 13(1):7279.

PMID: 36435807 PMC: 9701222. DOI: 10.1038/s41467-022-34925-y.


Uncovering the mesendoderm gene regulatory network through multi-omic data integration.

Jansen C, Paraiso K, Zhou J, Blitz I, Fish M, Charney R Cell Rep. 2022; 38(7):110364.

PMID: 35172134 PMC: 8917868. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2022.110364.


T-Cell Factors as Transcriptional Inhibitors: Activities and Regulations in Vertebrate Head Development.

Bou-Rouphael J, Durand B Front Cell Dev Biol. 2021; 9:784998.

PMID: 34901027 PMC: 8651982. DOI: 10.3389/fcell.2021.784998.


Regulation of Wnt Signaling by FOX Transcription Factors in Cancer.

Koch S Cancers (Basel). 2021; 13(14).

PMID: 34298659 PMC: 8307807. DOI: 10.3390/cancers13143446.


Control of zygotic genome activation in Xenopus.

Blitz I, Cho K Curr Top Dev Biol. 2021; 145:167-204.

PMID: 34074529 PMC: 9884558. DOI: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2021.03.003.


References
1.
Doumpas N, Lampart F, Robinson M, Lentini A, Nestor C, Cantu C . TCF/LEF dependent and independent transcriptional regulation of Wnt/β-catenin target genes. EMBO J. 2018; 38(2). PMC: 6331726. DOI: 10.15252/embj.201798873. View

2.
Hoppler S, Moon R . BMP-2/-4 and Wnt-8 cooperatively pattern the Xenopus mesoderm. Mech Dev. 1998; 71(1-2):119-29. DOI: 10.1016/s0925-4773(98)00004-5. View

3.
Jukam D, Shariati S, Skotheim J . Zygotic Genome Activation in Vertebrates. Dev Cell. 2017; 42(4):316-332. PMC: 5714289. DOI: 10.1016/j.devcel.2017.07.026. View

4.
Kiecker C, Bates T, Bell E . Molecular specification of germ layers in vertebrate embryos. Cell Mol Life Sci. 2015; 73(5):923-47. PMC: 4744249. DOI: 10.1007/s00018-015-2092-y. View

5.
Carnac G, Kodjabachian L, Gurdon J, Lemaire P . The homeobox gene Siamois is a target of the Wnt dorsalisation pathway and triggers organiser activity in the absence of mesoderm. Development. 1996; 122(10):3055-65. DOI: 10.1242/dev.122.10.3055. View