Cell and molecular transitions during efficient dedifferentiation

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Abstract

Dedifferentiation is a critical response to tissue damage, yet is not well understood, even at a basic phenomenological level. Developing Dictyostelium cells undergo highly efficient dedifferentiation, completed by most cells within 24 hours. We use this rapid response to investigate the control features of dedifferentiation, combining single cell imaging with high temporal resolution transcriptomics. Gene expression during dedifferentiation was predominantly a simple reversal of developmental changes, with expression changes not following this pattern primarily associated with ribosome biogenesis. Mutation of genes induced early in dedifferentiation did not strongly perturb the reversal of development. This apparent robustness may arise from adaptability of cells: the relative temporal ordering of cell and molecular events was not absolute, suggesting cell programmes reach the same end using different mechanisms. In addition, although cells start from different fates, they rapidly converged on a single expression trajectory. These regulatory features may contribute to dedifferentiation responses during regeneration.

Data availability

Sequencing data have been deposited to GEO under the accession number GSE144892

The following data sets were generated

1. Nichols JME
2. Antolovic V
3. Reich J
4. Brameyer S
5. Paschke P
6. Chubb JR
(2020) Cell and molecular transitions during efficient dedifferentiation
NCBI Gene Expression Omnibus, GSE144892.

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/geo/query/acc.cgi?acc=GSE144892

Article and author information

Author details

John ME Nichols

Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Vlatka Antolovic

Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Jacob D Reich

Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Sophie Brameyer

Microbiology, Ludwig-Maximilians-University Munich, Martinsried, Germany

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-6779-2343
Peggy Paschke

Beatson Institute, Glasgow, United Kingdom

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
Jonathan R Chubb

Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology, University College London, London, United Kingdom

For correspondence
j.chubb@ucl.ac.uk

Competing interests
The authors declare that no competing interests exist.

"This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0001-6898-9765

Funding

Wellcome (202867/Z/16/Z)

Jonathan R Chubb

Medical Research Council (MC_U12266B)

Jonathan R Chubb

The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.

Copyright

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.