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The transcription factor LAG-1/CSL plays a Notch-independent role in controlling terminal differentiation, fate maintenance, and plasticity of serotonergic chemosensory neurons

During development, signal-regulated transcription factors (TFs) act as basal repressors and upon signalling through morphogens or cell-to-cell signalling shift to activators, mediating precise and transient responses. Conversely, at the final steps of neuron specification, terminal selector TFs dir...

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Autores principales: Maicas, Miren, Jimeno-Martín, Ángela, Millán-Trejo, Andrea, Alkema, Mark J., Flames, Nuria
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Public Library of Science 2021
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8289040/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34232959
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001334
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author Maicas, Miren
Jimeno-Martín, Ángela
Millán-Trejo, Andrea
Alkema, Mark J.
Flames, Nuria
author_facet Maicas, Miren
Jimeno-Martín, Ángela
Millán-Trejo, Andrea
Alkema, Mark J.
Flames, Nuria
author_sort Maicas, Miren
collection PubMed
description During development, signal-regulated transcription factors (TFs) act as basal repressors and upon signalling through morphogens or cell-to-cell signalling shift to activators, mediating precise and transient responses. Conversely, at the final steps of neuron specification, terminal selector TFs directly initiate and maintain neuron-type specific gene expression through enduring functions as activators. C. elegans contains 3 types of serotonin synthesising neurons that share the expression of the serotonin biosynthesis pathway genes but not of other effector genes. Here, we find an unconventional role for LAG-1, the signal-regulated TF mediator of the Notch pathway, as terminal selector for the ADF serotonergic chemosensory neuron, but not for other serotonergic neuron types. Regulatory regions of ADF effector genes contain functional LAG-1 binding sites that mediate activation but not basal repression. lag-1 mutants show broad defects in ADF effector genes activation, and LAG-1 is required to maintain ADF cell fate and functions throughout life. Unexpectedly, contrary to reported basal repression state for LAG-1 prior to Notch receptor activation, gene expression activation in the ADF neuron by LAG-1 does not require Notch signalling, demonstrating a default activator state for LAG-1 independent of Notch. We hypothesise that the enduring activity of terminal selectors on target genes required uncoupling LAG-1 activating role from receiving the transient Notch signalling.
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spelling pubmed-82890402021-07-31 The transcription factor LAG-1/CSL plays a Notch-independent role in controlling terminal differentiation, fate maintenance, and plasticity of serotonergic chemosensory neurons Maicas, Miren Jimeno-Martín, Ángela Millán-Trejo, Andrea Alkema, Mark J. Flames, Nuria PLoS Biol Research Article During development, signal-regulated transcription factors (TFs) act as basal repressors and upon signalling through morphogens or cell-to-cell signalling shift to activators, mediating precise and transient responses. Conversely, at the final steps of neuron specification, terminal selector TFs directly initiate and maintain neuron-type specific gene expression through enduring functions as activators. C. elegans contains 3 types of serotonin synthesising neurons that share the expression of the serotonin biosynthesis pathway genes but not of other effector genes. Here, we find an unconventional role for LAG-1, the signal-regulated TF mediator of the Notch pathway, as terminal selector for the ADF serotonergic chemosensory neuron, but not for other serotonergic neuron types. Regulatory regions of ADF effector genes contain functional LAG-1 binding sites that mediate activation but not basal repression. lag-1 mutants show broad defects in ADF effector genes activation, and LAG-1 is required to maintain ADF cell fate and functions throughout life. Unexpectedly, contrary to reported basal repression state for LAG-1 prior to Notch receptor activation, gene expression activation in the ADF neuron by LAG-1 does not require Notch signalling, demonstrating a default activator state for LAG-1 independent of Notch. We hypothesise that the enduring activity of terminal selectors on target genes required uncoupling LAG-1 activating role from receiving the transient Notch signalling. Public Library of Science 2021-07-07 /pmc/articles/PMC8289040/ /pubmed/34232959 http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001334 Text en © 2021 Maicas et al https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) , which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
spellingShingle Research Article
Maicas, Miren
Jimeno-Martín, Ángela
Millán-Trejo, Andrea
Alkema, Mark J.
Flames, Nuria
The transcription factor LAG-1/CSL plays a Notch-independent role in controlling terminal differentiation, fate maintenance, and plasticity of serotonergic chemosensory neurons
title The transcription factor LAG-1/CSL plays a Notch-independent role in controlling terminal differentiation, fate maintenance, and plasticity of serotonergic chemosensory neurons
title_full The transcription factor LAG-1/CSL plays a Notch-independent role in controlling terminal differentiation, fate maintenance, and plasticity of serotonergic chemosensory neurons
title_fullStr The transcription factor LAG-1/CSL plays a Notch-independent role in controlling terminal differentiation, fate maintenance, and plasticity of serotonergic chemosensory neurons
title_full_unstemmed The transcription factor LAG-1/CSL plays a Notch-independent role in controlling terminal differentiation, fate maintenance, and plasticity of serotonergic chemosensory neurons
title_short The transcription factor LAG-1/CSL plays a Notch-independent role in controlling terminal differentiation, fate maintenance, and plasticity of serotonergic chemosensory neurons
title_sort transcription factor lag-1/csl plays a notch-independent role in controlling terminal differentiation, fate maintenance, and plasticity of serotonergic chemosensory neurons
topic Research Article
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8289040/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/34232959
http://dx.doi.org/10.1371/journal.pbio.3001334
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