Context-Dependent Sensitivity to Mutations Disrupting the Structural Integrity of Individual EGF Repeats in the Mouse Notch Ligand DLL1.

The highly conserved Notch-signaling pathway mediates cell-to-cell communication and is pivotal for multiple developmental processes and tissue homeostasis in adult organisms. Notch receptors and their ligands are transmembrane proteins with multiple epidermal-growth-factor-like (EGF) repeats in their extracellular domains. In vitro the EGF repeats of mammalian ligands that are essential for Notch activation have been defined. However, in vivo the significance of the structural integrity of each EGF repeat in the ligand ectodomain for ligand function is still unclear. Here, we analyzed the mouse Notch ligand DLL1. We expressed DLL1 proteins with mutations disrupting disulfide bridges in each individual EGF repeat from single-copy transgenes in the HPRT locus of embryonic stem cells. In Notch transactivation assays all mutations impinged on DLL1 function and affected both NOTCH1 and NOTCH2 receptors similarly. An allelic series in mice that carried the same point mutations in endogenous Dll1, generated using a mini-gene strategy, showed that early developmental processes depending on DLL1-mediated NOTCH activation were differently sensitive to mutation of individual EGF repeats in DLL1. Notably, some mutations affected only somite patterning and resulted in vertebral column defects resembling spondylocostal dysostosis. In conclusion, the structural integrity of each individual EGF repeat in the extracellular domain of DLL1 is necessary for full DLL1 activity, and certain mutations in Dll1 might contribute to spondylocostal dysostosis in humans.

Role of the Notch ligand Delta1 in embryonic and adult mouse epidermis.

The Notch ligand Delta1 (Dll1) is expressed in human interfollicular epidermis (IFE) and regulates differentiation and adhesion of cultured human keratinocytes. However, the consequences of deleting Dll1 in mouse epidermis have not been examined. Here, we report that in embryonic mouse skin Dll1 is expressed by patches of keratinocytes in the basal layer of the IFE and in the dermal papilla and hair bulb. In a Dll1 hypomorph mutant that survives until birth, hair follicles formed normally but proliferation and thickness of the IFE were increased. Deletion of Dll1 using Cre recombinase expressed under the control of the keratin-5 (K5) promoter resulted in a delay in the first postnatal anagen, but subsequent hair cycles were normal. As in the hypomorph, IFE proliferation was stimulated and expression of K10 and K17 was disturbed. Older mice developed tumors with elements of IFE differentiation. Keratinocytes cultured from K5Cre x Dll1(flox/flox) epidermis showed a transient increase in proliferation, with a subsequent decrease in integrin expression and increased terminal differentiation. These results demonstrate that Dll1 contributes to the control of proliferation and differentiation in IFE, whereas Jagged1 regulates hair follicle differentiation.

Divergent functions and distinct localization of the Notch ligands DLL1 and DLL3 in vivo.

The Notch ligands Dll1 and Dll3 are coexpressed in the presomitic mesoderm of mouse embryos. Despite their coexpression, mutations in Dll1 and Dll3 cause strikingly different defects. To determine if there is any functional equivalence, we replaced Dll1 with Dll3 in mice. Dll3 does not compensate for Dll1; DLL1 activates Notch in Drosophila wing discs, but DLL3 does not. We do not observe evidence for antagonism between DLL1 and DLL3, or repression of Notch activity in mice or Drosophila. In vitro analyses show that differences in various domains of DLL1 and DLL3 individually contribute to their biochemical nonequivalence. In contrast to endogenous DLL1 located on the surface of presomitic mesoderm cells, we find endogenous DLL3 predominantly in the Golgi apparatus. Our data demonstrate distinct in vivo functions for DLL1 and DLL3. They suggest that DLL3 does not antagonize DLL1 in the presomitic mesoderm and warrant further analyses of potential physiological functions of DLL3 in the Golgi network.

Premature myogenic differentiation and depletion of progenitor cells cause severe muscle hypotrophy in Delta1 mutants.

In vertebrates, skeletal myogenesis is initiated by the generation of myoblasts followed by their differentiation to myocytes and the formation of myofibers. The determination of myoblasts and their differentiation are controlled by muscle regulatory factors that are activated at specific stages during myogenesis. During late embryonic and fetal stages a distinct population of resident proliferating progenitor cells is the major source of myogenic cells. How the differentiation of myoblasts and progenitor cells is regulated is not clear. We show that in mouse embryos the Notch ligand Delta1 (Dll1) controls both differentiation of early myoblasts and maintenance of myogenic progenitor cells. Early dermomyotome-derived myoblasts are determined normally in Dll1 mutant embryos, but their differentiation is accelerated, leading to a transient excess of myotomal muscle fibers. Similarly, migratory hypaxial myogenic cells colonize the limb buds and activate muscle regulatory factor expression normally, but muscle differentiation progresses more rapidly. Resident progenitor cells defined by Pax3/Pax7 expression are formed initially, but they are progressively lost and virtually absent at embryonic day 14.5. Muscle growth declines beginning around embryonic day 12, leading to subsequent severe muscle hypotrophy in hypomorphic Dll1 fetuses. We suggest that premature and excessive differentiation leads to depletion of progenitor cells and cessation of muscle growth, and we conclude that Dll1 provides essential signals that are required to prevent uncontrolled differentiation early and ensure sustained muscle differentiation during development.

Ascl1 and Gsh1/2 control inhibitory and excitatory cell fate in spinal sensory interneurons.

Sensory information from the periphery is integrated and transduced by excitatory and inhibitory interneurons in the dorsal spinal cord. Recent studies have identified a number of postmitotic factors that control the generation of these sensory interneurons. We show that Gsh1/2 and Ascl1 (Mash1), which are expressed in sensory interneuron progenitors, control the choice between excitatory and inhibitory cell fates in the developing mouse spinal cord. During the early phase of neurogenesis, Gsh1/2 and Ascl1 coordinately regulate the expression of Tlx3, which is a critical postmitotic determinant for dorsal glutamatergic sensory interneurons. However, at later developmental times, Ascl1 controls the expression of Ptf1a in dIL(A) progenitors to promote inhibitory neuron differentiation while at the same time upregulating Notch signaling to ensure the proper generation of dIL(B) excitatory neurons. We propose that this switch in Ascl1 function enables the cogeneration of inhibitory and excitatory sensory interneurons from a common pool of dorsal progenitors.

The Notch ligands DLL1 and JAG2 act synergistically to regulate hair cell development in the mammalian inner ear.

The mammalian auditory sensory epithelium, the organ of Corti, contains sensory hair cells and nonsensory supporting cells arranged in a highly patterned mosaic. Notch-mediated lateral inhibition is the proposed mechanism for creating this sensory mosaic. Previous work has shown that mice lacking the Notch ligand JAG2 differentiate supernumerary hair cells in the cochlea, consistent with the lateral inhibitory model. However, it was not clear why only relatively modest increases in hair cell production were observed in Jag2 mutant mice. Here, we show that another Notch ligand, DLL1, functions synergistically with JAG2 in regulating hair cell differentiation in the cochlea. We also show by conditional inactivation that these ligands probably signal through the NOTCH1 receptor. Supernumerary hair cells in Dll1/Jag2 double mutants arise primarily through a switch in cell fate, rather than through excess proliferation. Although these results demonstrate an important role for Notch-mediated lateral inhibition during cochlear hair cell patterning, we also detected abnormally prolonged cellular proliferation that preferentially affected supporting cells in the organ of Corti. Our results demonstrate that the Notch pathway plays a dual role in regulating cellular differentiation and patterning in the cochlea, acting both through lateral inhibition and the control of cellular proliferation.

Specification of vertebral identity is coupled to Notch signalling and the segmentation clock.

To further analyse requirements for Notch signalling in patterning the paraxial mesoderm, we generated transgenic mice that express in the paraxial mesoderm a dominant-negative version of Delta1. Transgenic mice with reduced Notch activity in the presomitic mesoderm as indicated by loss of Hes5 expression were viable and displayed defects in somites and vertebrae consistent with known roles of Notch signalling in somite compartmentalisation. In addition, these mice showed with variable expressivity and penetrance alterations of vertebral identities resembling homeotic transformations, and subtle changes of Hox gene expression in day 12.5 embryos. Mice that carried only one functional copy of the endogenous Delta1 gene also showed changes of vertebral identities in the lower cervical region, suggesting a previously unnoticed haploinsufficiency for Delta1. Likewise, in mice carrying a null allele of the oscillating Lfng gene, or in transgenic mice expressing Lfng constitutively in the presomitic mesoderm, vertebral identities were changed and numbers of segments in the cervical and thoracic regions were reduced, suggesting anterior shifts of axial identity. Together, these results provide genetic evidence that precisely regulated levels of Notch activity as well as cyclic Lfng activity are critical for positional specification of the anteroposterior body axis in the paraxial mesoderm.

Transcriptional oscillation of lunatic fringe is essential for somitogenesis.

A molecular oscillator that controls the expression of cyclic genes such as lunatic fringe (Lfng) in the presomitic mesoderm has been shown to be coupled with somite formation in vertebrate embryos. To address the functional significance of oscillating Lfng expression, we have generated transgenic mice expressing Lfng constitutively in the presomitic mesoderm in addition to the intrinsic cyclic Lfng activity. These transgenic lines displayed defects of somite patterning and vertebral organization that were very similar to those of Lfng null mutants. Furthermore, constitutive expression of exogenous Lfng did not compensate for the complete loss of cyclic endogenous Lfng activity. Noncyclic exogenous Lfng expression did not abolish cyclic expression of endogenous Lfng in the posterior presomitic mesoderm (psm) but affected its expression pattern in the anterior psm. Similarly, dynamic expression of Hes7 was not abolished but abnormal expression patterns were obtained. Our data are consistent with a model in which alternations of Lfng activity between ON and OFF states in the presomitic mesoderm prior to somite segmentation are critical for proper somite patterning, and suggest that Notch signaling might not be the only determinant of cyclic gene expression in the presomitic mesoderm of mouse embryos.