Osteoporosis GWAS-implicated DNM3 locus contextually regulates osteoblastic and chondrogenic fate of mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells through oscillating miR-199a-5p levels.

Genome wide association study (GWAS)-implicated bone mineral density (BMD) signals have been shown to localize in cis-regulatory regions of distal effector genes using 3D genomic methods. Detailed characterization of such genes can reveal novel causal genes for BMD determination. Here, we elected to characterize the "DNM3" locus on chr1q24, where the long non-coding RNA DNM3OS and the embedded microRNA MIR199A2 (miR-199a-5p) are implicated as effector genes contacted by the region harboring variation in linkage disequilibrium with BMD-associated sentinel single nucleotide polymorphism, rs12041600. During osteoblast differentiation of human mesenchymal stem/progenitor cells (hMSC), miR-199a-5p expression was temporally decreased and correlated with the induction of osteoblastic transcription factors RUNX2 and Osterix. Functional relevance of miR-199a-5p downregulation in osteoblastogenesis was investigated by introducing miR-199a-5p mimic into hMSC. Cells overexpressing miR-199a-5p depicted a cobblestone-like morphological change and failed to produce BMP2-dependent extracellular matrix mineralization. Mechanistically, a miR-199a-5p mimic modified hMSC propagated normal SMAD1/5/9 signaling and expressed osteoblastic transcription factors RUNX2 and Osterix but depicted pronounced upregulation of SOX9 and enhanced expression of essential chondrogenic genes ACAN, COMP, and COL10A1. Mineralization defects, morphological changes, and enhanced chondrogenic gene expression associated with miR-199a-5p mimic over-expression were restored with miR-199a-5p inhibitor suggesting specificity of miR-199a-5p in chondrogenic fate specification. The expression of both the DNM3OS and miR-199a-5p temporally increased and correlated with hMSC chondrogenic differentiation. Although miR-199a-5p overexpression failed to further enhance chondrogenesis, blocking miR-199a-5p activity significantly reduced chondrogenic pellet size, extracellular matrix deposition, and chondrogenic gene expression. Taken together, our results indicate that oscillating miR-199a-5p levels dictate hMSC osteoblast or chondrocyte terminal fate. Our study highlights a functional role of miR-199a-5p as a BMD effector gene at the DNM3 BMD GWAS locus, where patients with cis-regulatory genetic variation which increases miR-199a-5p expression could lead to reduced osteoblast activity.

Hedgehog-dependent down-regulation of the tumor suppressor, vitamin D3 up-regulated protein 1 (VDUP1), precedes lamina development in Drosophila.

The tumor suppressor vitamin D(3) up-regulated protein 1 (VDUP1) is expressed throughout the developing and mature Drosophila nervous system, but its regulatory pathways are not well understood. Within the developing Drosophila visual system, down-regulation of VDUP1 in lamina precursor cells (LPCs) coincided with the arrival of retinal axons into the lamina target field, suggesting VDUP1 regulation by an axonally transmitted signal. Hedgehog (Hh) is a signal well known to coordinate LPC proliferation and differentiation in response to retinal axon innervation, and analysis of orthologous dvdup1 promoters identified an evolutionarily conserved binding site for the Hh-dependent transcription factor cubitus interruptus (Ci). Hh-dependent regulation of VDUP1 in the developing lamina was confirmed in Hh loss-of-function backgrounds where VDUP1 expression was maintained in LPCs, inhibiting both cell proliferation and lamina neurogenesis. This putative coupling of VDUP1 to the Hh signaling pathway may provide novel insights into the mechanisms controlling brain growth and development.

Expression and regulation of vitamin D3 upregulated protein 1 (VDUP1) is conserved in mammalian and insect brain.

Originally characterized as a cell-cycle inhibitor induced by vitamin D(3), the tumor suppressor vitamin-D(3) upregulated protein 1 (VDUP1) has increasingly been shown to play major physiological roles in cell differentiation and glucose metabolism. Here we show evolutionarily conserved expression patterns of VDUP1 in Drosophila and rat nervous systems, including subcellular localization--cytoplasmic enrichment in neurons and nuclear expression in glia. These anatomical correlates suggested conservation of VDUP1 regulation, which was investigated both functionally and through promoter studies. Characterization of orthologous vdup1 cis-regulatory regions identified evolutionarily conserved sequence blocks (CSBs) with similarities to neural enhancers, including basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor Neurogenin/Math/atonal and Mash/achaete-scute family members. E-boxes (CANNTG), the binding sites for bHLH proteins, were associated with these CSBs as well, including E-boxes known to mediate glucose-dependent upregulation of VDUP1 in nonneuronal cells. Hyperglycemia-induced upregulation of VDUP1 was observed in brain tumor cells and in the Drosophila nervous system, which resulted in developmental arrest. Taken together, these data demonstrate evolutionary conservation of VDUP1 regulation and function, and suggest an expanding role for VDUP1 in nervous system development.

The tumor suppressor, vitamin D3 up-regulated protein 1 (VDUP1), functions downstream of REPO during Drosophila gliogenesis.

The tumor suppressor, vitamin D(3) up-regulated protein 1 (VDUP1), regulates cell cycle progression by suppressing AP-1-dependent transcription. Loss of VDUP1 activity is associated with tumorigenesis but little is known about VDUP1 regulatory controls or developmental roles. Here we show that the Drosophila homolog of human VDUP1 (dVDUP1) is expressed throughout the nervous system at all stages of development, the first in vivo analysis of VDUP1 expression patterns in the brain. During neurogenesis dVDUP1 expression is transiently down-regulated coincident with neuroblast delamination. Subsequent to expression of the neuronal marker elav, dVDUP1 is up-regulated to varying degrees in developing neurons. In contrast, dVDUP1 expression is both robust and sustained during gliogenesis, and the cis-regulatory region of the dvdup1 gene contains consensus binding sites for the glial fate gene reversed polarity (repo). Expression of dVDUP1 in presumptive glia is lost in embryos deficient for the glial fate genes glial cells missing (gcm) and repo. Conversely, ectopic expression of gcm or repo was sufficient to induce dVDUP1 expression in the nervous system. Taken together, these data suggest a novel role for the dVDUP1 tumor suppressor during nervous system development as a regulatory target for REPO during gliogenesis.