Eya1 controls cell polarity, spindle orientation, cell fate and Notch signaling in distal embryonic lung epithelium

Cell polarity, mitotic spindle orientation and asymmetric division play a crucial role in the self-renewal/differentiation of epithelial cells, yet little is known about these processes and the molecular programs that control them in embryonic lung distal epithelium. Herein, we provide the first evidence that embryonic lung distal epithelium is polarized with characteristic perpendicular cell divisions. Consistent with these findings, spindle orientation-regulatory proteins Insc, LGN (Gpsm2) and NuMA, and the cell fate determinant Numb are asymmetrically localized in embryonic lung distal epithelium. Interfering with the function of these proteins in vitro randomizes spindle orientation and changes cell fate. We further show that Eya1 protein regulates cell polarity, spindle orientation and the localization of Numb, which inhibits Notch signaling. Hence, Eya1 promotes both perpendicular division as well as Numb asymmetric segregation to one daughter in mitotic distal lung epithelium, probably by controlling aPKCζ phosphorylation. Thus, epithelial cell polarity and mitotic spindle orientation are defective after interfering with Eya1 function in vivo or in vitro. In addition, in Eya1(-/-) lungs, perpendicular division is not maintained and Numb is segregated to both daughter cells in mitotic epithelial cells, leading to inactivation of Notch signaling. As Notch signaling promotes progenitor cell identity at the expense of differentiated cell phenotypes, we test whether genetic activation of Notch could rescue the Eya1(-/-) lung phenotype, which is characterized by loss of epithelial progenitors, increased epithelial differentiation but reduced branching. Indeed, genetic activation of Notch partially rescues Eya1(-/-) lung epithelial defects. These findings uncover novel functions for Eya1 as a crucial regulator of the complex behavior of distal embryonic lung epithelium.     

T1alpha,a lung type I cell differentiation gene,is required for normal lung cell proliferation and alveolus formation at birth

T1alpha, a differentiation gene of lung alveolar epithelial type I cells, is developmentally regulated and encodes an apical membrane protein of unknown function. Morphological differentiation of type I cells to form the air-blood barrier starts in the last few days of gestation and continues postnatally. Although T1alpha is expressed in the foregut endoderm before the lung buds, T1alpha mRNA and protein levels increase substantially in late fetuses when expression is restricted to alveolar type I cells. We generated T1alpha null mutant mice to study the role of T1alpha in lung development and differentiation and to gain insight into its potential function. Homozygous null mice die at birth of respiratory failure, and their lungs cannot be inflated to normal volumes. Distal lung morphology is altered. In the absence of T1alpha protein, type I cell differentiation is blocked, as indicated by smaller airspaces, many fewer attenuated type I cells, and reduced levels of aquaporin-5 mRNA and protein, a type I cell water channel. Abundant secreted surfactant in the narrowed airspaces, normal levels of surfactant protein mRNAs, and normal patterns and numbers of cells expressing surfactant protein-B suggest that differentiation of type II cells, also alveolar epithelial cells, is normal. Anomalous proliferation of the mesenchyme and epithelium at birth with unchanged numbers of apoptotic cells suggests that loss of T1alpha and/or abnormal morphogenesis of type I cells alter the proliferation rate of distal lung cells, probably by disruption of epithelial-mesenchymal signaling.     

T1α, a lung type I cell differentiation gene, is required for normal lung cell proliferation and alveolus formation at birth

T1α, a differentiation gene of lung alveolar epithelial type I cells, is developmentally regulated and encodes an apical membrane protein of unknown function. Morphological differentiation of type I cells to form the air-blood barrier starts in the last few days of gestation and continues postnatally. Although T1α is expressed in the foregut endoderm before the lung buds, T1α mRNA and protein levels increase substantially in late fetuses when expression is restricted to alveolar type I cells. We generated T1α null mutant mice to study the role of T1α in lung development and differentiation and to gain insight into its potential function. Homozygous null mice die at birth of respiratory failure, and their lungs cannot be inflated to normal volumes. Distal lung morphology is altered. In the absence of T1α protein, type I cell differentiation is blocked, as indicated by smaller airspaces, many fewer attenuated type I cells, and reduced levels of aquaporin-5 mRNA and protein, a type I cell water channel. Abundant secreted surfactant in the narrowed airspaces, normal levels of surfactant protein mRNAs, and normal patterns and numbers of cells expressing surfactant protein-B suggest that differentiation of type II cells, also alveolar epithelial cells, is normal. Anomalous proliferation of the mesenchyme and epithelium at birth with unchanged numbers of apoptotic cells suggests that loss of T1α and/or abnormal morphogenesis of type I cells alter the proliferation rate of distal lung cells, probably by disruption of epithelial-mesenchymal signaling.     

Lung hypoplasia and neonatal death in Fgf9-null mice identify this gene as an essential regulator of lung mesenchyme

Mammalian lung develops as an evagination of ventral gut endoderm into the underlying mesenchyme. Iterative epithelial branching, regulated by the surrounding mesenchyme, generates an elaborate network of airways from the initial lung bud. Fibroblast growth factors (FGFs) often mediate epithelial-mesenchymal interactions and mesenchymal Fgf10 is essential for epithelial branching in the developing lung. However, no FGF has been shown to regulate lung mesenchyme. In embryonic lung, Fgf9 is detected in airway epithelium and visceral pleura at E10.5, but is restricted to the pleura by E12.5. We report that mice homozygous for a targeted disruption of Fgf9 exhibit lung hypoplasia and early postnatal death. Fgf9(-/-) lungs exhibit reduced mesenchyme and decreased branching of airways, but show significant distal airspace formation and pneumocyte differentiation. Our results suggest that Fgf9 affects lung size by stimulating mesenchymal proliferation. The reduction in the amount of mesenchyme in Fgf9(-/-) lungs limits expression of mesenchymal Fgf10. We suggest a model whereby FGF9 signaling from the epithelium and reciprocal FGF10 signaling from the mesenchyme coordinately regulate epithelial airway branching and organ size during lung embryogenesis.     

Hypoxia affects in vitro proliferation and differentiation of mouse corneal epithelial progenitor cell

This study was to investigate the proliferation and differentiation of mouse corneal epithelial progenitor cell in hypoxic airlift culture. Mouse corneal epithelial progenitor cell line progenitor cells were cultured under airlift with normoxic and hypoxic conditions for various durations up to 2 wk. Under normoxic conditions when exposed to air, the hyperproliferation and abnormal epidermal-like differentiation of mouse corneal epithelium was induced, whereas when exposed to air under hypoxic conditions, although we observed augmented proliferation, the abnormal differentiation was inhibited. The mechanism by which hypoxia prevents abnormal differentiation may involve downregulation of Wnt signaling pathways, which were inhibited in cells cultured with hypoxic airlift technique. In conclusion, hypoxia can prevent abnormal differentiation while enhancing the proliferation of corneal epithelial cells by blocking Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway.     

T-box genes coordinate regional rates of proliferation and regional specification during cardiogenesis

Mutations in T-box genes are the cause of several congenital diseases and are implicated in cancer. Tbx20-null mice exhibit severely hypoplastic hearts and express Tbx2, which is normally restricted to outflow tract and atrioventricular canal, throughout the heart. Tbx20 mutant hearts closely resemble those seen in mice overexpressing Tbx2 in myocardium, suggesting that upregulation of Tbx2 can largely account for the cardiac phenotype in Tbx20-null mice. We provide evidence that Tbx2 is a direct target for repression by Tbx20 in developing heart. We have also found that Tbx2 directly binds to the Nmyc1 promoter in developing heart, and can repress expression of the Nmyc1 promoter in transient transfection studies. Repression of Nmyc1 (N-myc) by aberrantly regulated Tbx2 can account in part for the observed cardiac hypoplasia in Tbx20 mutants. Nmyc1 is required for growth and development of multiple organs, including the heart, and overexpression of Nmyc1 is associated with childhood tumors. Despite its clinical relevance, the factors that regulate Nmyc1 expression during development are unknown. Our data present a paradigm by which T-box proteins regulate regional differences in Nmyc1 expression and proliferation to effect organ morphogenesis. We present a model whereby Tbx2 directly represses Nmyc1 in outflow tract and atrioventricular canal of the developing heart, resulting in relatively low proliferation. In chamber myocardium, Tbx20 represses Tbx2, preventing repression of Nmyc1 and resulting in relatively high proliferation. In addition to its role in regulating regional proliferation, we have found that Tbx20 regulates expression of a number of genes that specify regional identity within the heart, thereby coordinating these two important aspects of organ development.     

VEGF induces airway epithelial cell proliferation in human fetal lung in vitro

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a potent endothelial cell mitogen involved in normal and abnormal angiogenesis. VEGF mRNA and protein are abundant in distal epithelium of midtrimester human fetal lung. In the present study, we identified immunoreactivity for KDR, a major VEGF-specific receptor, in distal lung epithelial cells of human fetal lung tissue, suggesting a possible autocrine or paracrine regulatory role for VEGF in pulmonary epithelial cell growth and differentiation. Addition of exogenous VEGF to human fetal lung explants resulted in increased epithelium volume density and lumen volume density in the tissues, both morphometric parameters of tissue differentiation. Cellular proliferation demonstrated by bromodeoxyuridine uptake was prominent in distal airway epithelial cells and increased in the VEGF-treated explants. VEGF-treated explants also demonstrated increased surfactant protein (SP) A mRNA, SP-C mRNA, and SP-A protein levels compared with controls. However, SP-B mRNA levels were unaffected by VEGF treatment. [(3)H]choline incorporation into total phosphatidylcholine was increased by VEGF treatment, but incorporation into disaturated phosphatidylcholine was not affected by exogenous VEGF. Based on these observations, we conclude that VEGF may be an important autocrine growth factor for distal airway epithelial cells in the developing human lung.     

Analysis of mesenchymal influence on the pepsinogen gene expression in the epithelium of chicken embryonic digestive tract

We performed tissue recombination experiments to discover the mesenchymal influences on differentiation of epithelia in chicken digestive organs. Epithelia and mesenchymes were taken from the lung, esophagus, proventriculus, gizzard, small intestine and large intestine of 6-day chicken embryos and recombined in various associations and cultivated in vitro for 6 days. Rather unexpectedly, embryonic chicken pepsinogen (ECPg) gene, a marker of the proventricular epithelium, was induced in the gizzard epithelium, which does not express ECPg in normal development, by the proventricular and lung mesenchymes. In the second half of this study, we investigated the mode of action of mesenchymal cells on ECPg expression in gizzard epithelial cells more precisely using the cell aggregate culture system, in which gizzard epithelial cells were mixed with proventricular, gizzard or lung mesenchymal cells. We found that supporting action of lung mesenchymal cells on ECPg expression was even stronger than that of proventricular mesenchymal cells, and suggest that the action of lung mesenchyme may be due partly to the enhancement of epithelial cell proliferation. According to the results of this study, together with many facts obtained so far, we will discuss a new model for restricted expression of ECPg in the proventricular epithelium in normal development.     

Numb Expression and Asymmetric versus Symmetric Cell Division in Distal Embryonic Lung Epithelium

Proper balance between self-renewal and differentiation of lung-specific progenitors is absolutely required for normal lung morphogenesis/regeneration. Therefore, understanding the behavior of lung epithelial stem/progenitor cells could identify innovative solutions for restoring normal lung morphogenesis and/or regeneration. The Notch inhibitor Numb is a key determinant of asymmetric or symmetric cell division and hence cell fate. Yet Numb proximal-distal expression pattern and symmetric versus asymmetric division are uncharacterized during lung epithelial development. Herein, the authors find that the cell fate determinant Numb is highly expressed and asymmetrically distributed at the apical side of distal epithelial progenitors and segregated to one daughter cell in most mitotic cells. Knocking down Numb in MLE15 epithelial cells significantly increased the number of cells expressing the progenitor cell markers Sox9/Id2. Furthermore, cadherin hole analysis revealed that most distal epithelial stem/progenitor cells in embryonic lungs divide asymmetrically; with their cleavage, planes are predicted to bypass the cadherin hole, resulting in asymmetric distribution of the cadherin hole to the daughter cells. These novel findings provide evidence for asymmetric cell division in distal epithelial stem/progenitor cells of embryonic lungs and a framework for future translationally oriented studies in this area.     

FGF10 signaling maintains the pancreatic progenitor cell state revealing a novel role of Notch in organ development

FGF10 plays an important role in the morphogenesis of several tissues by control of mesenchymal-to-epithelial signaling. In the pancreas, mesenchymal FGF10 is required to maintain the Pdx1-expressing epithelial progenitor cell population, and in the absence of FGF10 signaling, these cells fail to proliferate. Ectopic expression of FGF10 in the pancreatic epithelium caused increased proliferation of pancreatic progenitor cells and abrogation of pancreatic cell differentiation of all cell types. A hyperplastic pancreas consisting of undifferentiated cells expressing Pdx1, Nkx6.1, and cell adhesion markers normally characterizing early pancreatic progenitor cells resulted. Differentiation was attenuated even as proliferation of the pancreatic cells slowed during late gestation, suggesting that the trophic effect of FGF10 was independent of its effects upon cell differentiation. The FGF10-positive pancreatic cells expressed Notch1 and Notch2, the Notch-ligand genes Jagged1 and Jagged2, as well as the Notch target gene Hes1. This activation of Notch is distinct from the previously recognized mechanism of lateral inhibition. These data suggest that FGF10 signaling serves to integrate cell growth and terminal differentiation at the level of Notch activation, revealing a novel second role of this key signaling system during pancreatic development.     

Expression of Carcinoembryonic Cell Adhesion Molecule 6 and Alveolar Epithelial Cell Markers in Lungs of Human Infants with Chronic Lung Disease

The membrane protein carcinoembryonic antigen cell adhesion molecule (CEACAM6) is expressed in the epithelium of various tissues, participating in innate immune defense, cell proliferation and differentiation, with overexpression in gastrointestinal tract, pancreatic and lung tumors. It is developmentally and hormonally regulated in fetal human lung, with an apparent increased production in preterm infants with respiratory failure. To further examine the expression and cell localization of CEACAM6, we performed immunohistochemical and biochemical studies in lung specimens from infants with and without chronic lung disease. CEACAM6 protein and mRNA were increased ~4-fold in lungs from infants with chronic lung disease as compared with controls. By immunostaining, CEACAM6 expression was markedly increased in the lung parenchyma of infants and children with a variety of chronic lung disorders, localizing to hyperplastic epithelial cells with a ~7-fold elevated proliferative rate by PCNA staining. Some of these cells also co-expressed membrane markers of both type I and type II cells, which is not observed in normal postnatal lung, suggesting they are transitional epithelial cells. We suggest that CEACAM6 is both a marker of lung epithelial progenitor cells and a contributor to the proliferative response after injury due to its anti-apoptotic and cell adhesive properties.     

In vivo genetic ablation of the periotic mesoderm affects cell proliferation survival and differentiation in the cochlea

Tbx1 is required for ear development in humans and mice. Gene manipulation in the mouse has discovered multiple consequences of loss of function on early development of the inner ear, some of which are attributable to a cell autonomous role in maintaining cell proliferation of epithelial progenitors of the cochlear and vestibular apparata. However, ablation of the mesodermal domain of the gene also results in severe but more restricted abnormalities. Here we show that Tbx1 has a dynamic expression during late development of the ear, in particular, is expressed in the sensory epithelium of the vestibular organs but not of the cochlea. Vice versa, it is expressed in the condensed mesenchyme that surrounds the cochlea but not in the one that surrounds the vestibule. Loss of Tbx1 in the mesoderm disrupts this peri-cochlear capsule by strongly reducing the proliferation of mesenchymal cells. The organogenesis of the cochlea, which normally occurs inside the capsule, was dramatically affected in terms of growth of the organ, as well as proliferation, differentiation and survival of its epithelial cells. This model provides a striking demonstration of the essential role played by the periotic mesenchyme in the organogenesis of the cochlea.     

Fgf10 expression identifies parabronchial smooth muscle cell progenitors and is required for their entry into the smooth muscle cell lineage

Lineage formation in the lung mesenchyme is poorly understood. Using a transgenic mouse line expressing LacZ under the control of Fgf10 regulatory sequences, we show that the pool of Fgf10-positive cells in the distal lung mesenchyme contains progenitors of the parabronchial smooth muscle cells. Fgf10 gene expression is slightly repressed in this transgenic line. This allowed us to create a hypomorphic Fgf10 phenotype by expressing the LacZ transgene in a heterozygous Fgf10 background. Hypomorphic Fgf10 mutant lungs display a decrease in beta-galactosidase-positive cells around the bronchial epithelium associated with an accumulation of beta-galactosidase-expressing cells in the distal mesenchyme. This correlates with a marked reduction of alpha smooth muscle actin expression, thereby demonstrating that FGF10 is mostly required for the entry of mesenchymal cells into the parabronchial smooth muscle cell lineage. The failure of exogenous FGF10 to phosphorylate its known downstream targets ERK and AKT in lung mesenchymal cultures strongly suggests that FGF10 acts indirectly on the progenitor population via an epithelial intermediate. We provide support for a role of epithelial BMP4 in mediating the formation of parabronchial smooth muscle cells.     

Circulating progenitor epithelial cells traffic via CXCR4/CXCL12 in response to airway injury

Recipient airway epithelial cells are found in human sex-mismatched lung transplants, implying that circulating progenitor epithelial cells contribute to the repair of the airway epithelium. Markers of circulating progenitor epithelial cells and mechanisms for their trafficking remain to be elucidated. We demonstrate that a population of progenitor epithelial cells exists in the bone marrow and the circulation of mice that is positive for the early epithelial marker cytokeratin 5 (CK5) and the chemokine receptor CXCR4. We used a mouse model of sex-mismatched tracheal transplantation and found that CK5+ circulating progenitor epithelial cells contribute to re-epithelialization of the airway and re-establishment of the pseudostratified epithelium. The presence of CXCL12 in tracheal transplants provided a mechanism for CXCR4+ circulating progenitor epithelial cell recruitment to the airway. Depletion of CXCL12 resulted in the epithelium defaulting to squamous metaplasia, which was derived solely from the resident tissue progenitor epithelial cells. Our findings demonstrate that CK5+CXCR4+ cells are markers of circulating progenitor epithelial cells in the bone marrow and circulation and that CXCR4/CXCL12-mediated recruitment of circulating progenitor epithelial cells is necessary for the re-establishment of a normal pseudostratified epithelium after airway injury. These findings support a novel paradigm for the development of squamous metaplasia of the airway epithelium and for developing therapeutic strategies for circulating progenitor epithelial cells in airway diseases.