Amotl2a interacts with the Hippo effector Yap1 and the Wnt/β-catenin effector Lef1 to control tissue size in zebrafish
Abstract
During development, proliferation must be tightly controlled for organs to reach their appropriate size. While the Hippo signaling pathway plays a major role in organ growth control, how it senses and responds to increased cell density is still unclear. Here we use the zebrafish lateral line primordium (LLP), a group of migrating epithelial cells that form sensory organs, to understand how tissue growth is controlled during organ formation. Loss of the cell junction-associated Motin protein Amotl2a leads to overproliferation and bigger LLP, affecting the final pattern of sensory organs. Amotl2a function in the LLP is mediated together by the Hippo pathway effector Yap1 and the Wnt/β-catenin effector Lef1. Our results implicate for the first time the Hippo pathway in size regulation in the LL system. We further provide evidence that the Hippo/Motin interaction is essential to limit tissue size during development.
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Ethics
Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict accordance with the recommendations of the German Animal Welfare Act (TierSchG) based on the directive 2010/63/UE of the European parlament. All of the animals were handled according to approved institutional animal care at the University of Freiburg and approved by the local government (Regierungspräsidium Freiburg -Permit Number: G-09/05).
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© 2015, Agarwala et al.
This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License permitting unrestricted use and redistribution provided that the original author and source are credited.
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Further reading
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- Cell Biology
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Long thought to have little relevance to ovarian physiology, the rete ovarii may have a role in follicular dynamics and reproductive health.
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- Cell Biology
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The rete ovarii (RO) is an appendage of the ovary that has been given little attention. Although the RO appears in drawings of the ovary in early versions of Gray’s Anatomy, it disappeared from recent textbooks, and is often dismissed as a functionless vestige in the adult ovary. Using PAX8 immunostaining and confocal microscopy, we characterized the fetal development of the RO in the context of the mouse ovary. The RO consists of three distinct regions that persist in adult life, the intraovarian rete (IOR), the extraovarian rete (EOR), and the connecting rete (CR). While the cells of the IOR appear to form solid cords within the ovary, the EOR rapidly develops into a convoluted tubular epithelium ending in a distal dilated tip. Cells of the EOR are ciliated and exhibit cellular trafficking capabilities. The CR, connecting the EOR to the IOR, gradually acquires tubular epithelial characteristics by birth. Using microinjections into the distal dilated tip of the EOR, we found that luminal contents flow toward the ovary. Mass spectrometry revealed that the EOR lumen contains secreted proteins potentially important for ovarian function. We show that the cells of the EOR are closely associated with vasculature and macrophages, and are contacted by neuronal projections, consistent with a role as a sensory appendage of the ovary. The direct proximity of the RO to the ovary and its integration with the extraovarian landscape suggest that it plays an important role in ovary development and homeostasis.