Document Type
Article
Publication Date
10-3-2024
Original Citation
Barnada S,
Giner de Gracia A,
Morenilla-Palao C,
López-Cascales M,
Scopa C,
Waltrich F,
Mikkers H,
Cicardi M,
Karlin J,
Trotti D,
Peterson K,
Brugmann S,
Santen G,
McMahon S,
Herrera E,
Trizzino M.
ARID1A-BAF coordinates ZIC2 genomic occupancy for epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition in cranial neural crest specification. Am J Hum Genet. 2024;111(10):2232-52.
Keywords
JMG, Neural Crest, Transcription Factors, Epithelial-Mesenchymal Transition, DNA-Binding Proteins, Humans, Intellectual Disability, Micrognathism, Animals, Face, Hand Deformities, Congenital, Neck, Mice, Nuclear Proteins, Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells, Haploinsufficiency, Enhancer Elements, Genetic, Foot Deformities, Congenital, Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental, Abnormalities, Multiple
JAX Source
Am J Hum Genet. 2024;111(10):2232-52.
ISSN
1537-6605
PMID
39226899
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ajhg.2024.07.022
Abstract
The BAF chromatin remodeler regulates lineage commitment including cranial neural crest cell (CNCC) specification. Variants in BAF subunits cause Coffin-Siris syndrome (CSS), a congenital disorder characterized by coarse craniofacial features and intellectual disability. Approximately 50% of individuals with CSS harbor variants in one of the mutually exclusive BAF subunits, ARID1A/ARID1B. While Arid1a deletion in mouse neural crest causes severe craniofacial phenotypes, little is known about the role of ARID1A in CNCC specification. Using CSS-patient-derived ARID1A[thorn]/ induced pluripotent stem cells to model CNCC specification, we discovered that ARID1A- haploinsufficiency impairs epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), a process necessary for CNCC delamination and migration from the neural tube. Furthermore, wild-type ARID1A-BAF regulates enhancers associated with EMT genes. ARID1A-BAF binding at these enhancers is impaired in heterozygotes while binding at promoters is unaffected. At the sequence level, these EMT enhancers contain binding motifs for ZIC2, and ZIC2 binding at these sites is ARID1A-dependent. When excluded from EMT enhancers, ZIC2 relocates to neuronal enhancers, triggering aberrant neuronal gene activation. In mice, deletion of Zic2 impairs NCC delamination, while ZIC2 over- expression in chick embryos at post-migratory neural crest stages elicits ectopic delamination from the neural tube. These findings reveal an essential ARID1A-ZIC2 axis essential for EMT and CNCC delamination.
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