Induction of osteogenesis by bone-targeted Notch activation

  1. Cong Xu
  2. Van Vuong Dinh
  3. Kai Kruse
  4. Hyun-Woo Jeong
  5. Emma C Watson
  6. Susanne Adams
  7. Frank Berkenfeld
  8. Martin Stehling
  9. Seyed Javad Rasouli
  10. Rui Fan
  11. Rui Chen
  12. Ivan Bedzhov
  13. Qi Chen
  14. Katsuhiro Kato
  15. Mara E Pitulescu  Is a corresponding author
  16. Ralf H Adams  Is a corresponding author
  1. Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Department of Tissue Morphogenesis, and University of Münster, Faculty of Medicine, Germany
  2. Flow Cytometry Unit, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Germany
  3. Embryonic Self-Organization Research Group, Max Planck Institute for Molecular Biomedicine, Germany
9 figures, 1 table and 1 additional file

Figures

Figure 1 with 5 supplements
Recombinant Dll4(E12) increases bone formation in vivo.

(A) Schematic diagram showing the domain organization of murine Dll4 full-length protein and recombinant Dll4-Asp8x and Dll4(E12) fusion proteins. The latter contain 6x His epitope tags (green …

Figure 1—figure supplement 1
Generation of Dll4-Asp8x recombinant proteins.

(A) Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis of purified Dll4-Asp8x recombinant proteins. From left to right, protein molecular mass marker (Marker), extract of …

Figure 1—figure supplement 2
Dll4-Asp8x detection in bone.

(A, B) Confocal images showing Dll4 (cyan) and Emcn (red) staining in femoral metaphysis (A) and endosteum and cortical bone (B) of pLIVE-Dll4-Asp8x and control-injected 11-week-old mice. Nuclei, …

Figure 1—figure supplement 3
Bone formation is not increased by Dll4-Asp8x.

(A) Tile scan images of Dll4 (cyan) staining in sections of pLIVE-Dll4-Asp8x and control femur. Nuclei, DAPI (blue). Images on the right show higher magnifications of insets in metaphysis (1), bone …

Figure 1—figure supplement 4
Generation of Dll4(E12).

(A) Diagram showing the amino acid sequence of mouse and rat Dll4 extracellular domain (ECD). Amino acid replacements shown in red were introduced into the murine sequence for the generation of Dll4(…

Figure 1—figure supplement 5
Dll4(E12) immunoreactivity in vivo.

(A–C) Representative confocal images showing Dll4(E12) immunoreactivity after pLIVE-Dll4(E12) or control injection in liver (A), spleen, (B) and lung (C). Dll4(E12) signal (green) is prominent in …

Figure 2 with 2 supplements
Notch-dependent processes are not blocked by Dll4(E12)in vivo.

(A) Alcian blue and nuclear fast red double staining of small intestine. Secretory goblet cells are labeled by Alcian blue. (B) Hematoxylin and eosin staining of liver sections of 11-week-old pLIVE-D…

Figure 2—figure supplement 1
Inflammatory cytokines are not induced by Dll4(E12).

Quantification of inflammatory cytokines in the plasma of pLIVE-Dll4(E12)- and control-injected mice. Data represent mean ± s.e.m. (n = 3 mice) (p-values determined by multiple unpaired t-test with …

Figure 2—figure supplement 2
Dll4(E12) does not induce vascular leakage.

(A–C) Representative confocal images and corresponding quantitation showing comparable extravasation of Texas Red-coupled fluorescent Dextran (purple) in liver (A), spleen, (B) and lung (C) of pLIVE-…

Figure 3 with 2 supplements
Recombinant Dll4(E12) increases osteogenesis.

(A) Tile scan confocal images of Osterix (OSX) staining (green) in femurs from pLIVE-Dll4(E12) and control-injected mice. Nuclei, DAPI (blue). Graph shows quantitation of OSX+ cells. Data represent …

Figure 3—figure supplement 1
Activation of the Hey1-EGFP reporter by Dll4(E12).

Expression of the Tg(Hey1-EGFP)ID40Gsat reporter (green fluorescent protein [GFP], green) in 11-week-old pLIVE-Dll4(E12) and control femur. Note that Dll4(E12) increases the number of Osterix+ (OSX+)…

Figure 3—figure supplement 2
Effect of Dll4(E12) on metaphyseal mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs) and chondrocytes.

(A, B) Tile scan confocal images showing that PDGFRβ (A) and NG2 (B) immunostaining in the adult metaphysis is increased by recombinant Dll4(E12). Nuclei, DAPI (blue). Graph shows quantitation of …

Effect of Dll4(E12) on bone vasculature.

(A) Tile scan images of Emcn (red), VEGFR3 (green), and Osterix (OSX)- (cyan) stained sections of pLIVE-Dll4(E12) and control femur at 11 weeks of age. Dashed line indicates the border of VEGFR3high

Figure 5 with 2 supplements
Bone formation is not changed by recombinant Jag1-Asp8x and Jag1(JV1).

(A) Schematic diagram showing the domain organization of murine Jag1 full-length protein and recombinant Jag1-Asp8x and Jag1(JV1) fusion proteins. Fusion proteins contain 6x His epitope tag (green …

Figure 5—figure supplement 1
Generation of Jag1-Asp8x and Jag1(JV1) recombinant proteins.

(A) Sodium dodecyl sulfate polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) analysis of purified Jag1-Asp8x recombinant protein. From left to right, protein molecular mass marker (Marker), extract of …

Figure 5—figure supplement 2
Detection of Jag1-Asp8x and Jag1(JV1) in the bone.

(A) Tile scan confocal images of Jag1 (cyan) immunostaining in sections from control, pLIVE-Jag1-Asp8x and pLIVE-Jag1(JV1) femur. Nuclei, DAPI (blue). (B) Representative higher magnification images …

Figure 6 with 1 supplement
Bone formation is not increased by Dll4(E12) in ovariectomized female mice.

(A, B) Representative 3D micro-computed tomography (μ-CT) images of trabecular bone in the distal tibial metaphysis (A) and cortical bone in the mid-tibial diaphysis (B) of sham or ovariectomized …

Figure 6—figure supplement 1
Reduced Dll4(E12) immunoreactivity and trabecular bone in female mice compared to male mice.

(A, B) Representative overview confocal images of Collagen I alpha one chain (Col1a1) staining (green) in the femurs of wild-type male and female mice treated with vehicle (A) or pLIVE-Dll4(E12) (B).…

Figure 7 with 2 supplements
Synergistic action of recombinant Dll4(E12) and parathyroid hormone (PTH).

(A) Representative micro-computed tomography (μ-CT) images of trabecular bone in the distal femoral metaphysis of female wild-type mice treated with vehicle, pLIVE-Dll4(E12), PTH, or the combination …

Figure 7—figure supplement 1
Effects of combined parathyroid hormone (PTH) and Dll4(E12) administration.

(A) Time course of pLIVE-Dll4(E12) and PTH administration to adult wild-type female mice. (B–E) Representative overview confocal images and corresponding quantification of immunostainings for Dll4 (B

Figure 7—figure supplement 2
Synergistic effects of Dll4(E12) and parathyroid hormone (PTH) on osteogenesis.

Representative overview confocal images and corresponding quantifications for Osterix (OSX) (A, white) and Opn (B, green) immunostaining in wild-type female femur after treatment with vehicle, pLIVE-…

Figure 8 with 2 supplements
Single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of control and Dll4(E12)-treated bone.

(A) Overview of the sample processing and scRNA-seq procedure. (B) UMAP projection of all cells in pLIVE-Dll4(E12) and control, colored by Louvain clusters. Endothelial cells (ECs), mesenchymal …

Figure 8—figure supplement 1
Single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA) quality control statistics.

(A–D) Quality control plots. In each panel, the top plot shows distribution of count depths, middle plot shows knee plot, and the bottom plot shows cumulative count depth plotted as a function of …

Figure 8—figure supplement 2
Extended analysis of differentially expressed genes.

(A) Differential expression volcano plots showing -log10(adjusted p-value) against average log-fold change of pLIVE-Dll4(E12) vs. control for Notch pathway related genes (parent Gene Ontology [GO] …

Single cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) subclusters.

(A) UMAP projection of MSCs in both control and pLIVE-Dll4(E12) samples colored by Louvain clusters. Metaphyseal MSCs (mpMSCs), diaphyseal MSCs (dpMSCs), and fibroblasts are indicated. (B) Barplot …

Tables

Key resources table
Reagent type (species) or resourceDesignationSource or referenceIdentifiersAdditional information
Strain, strain background (Mus musculus, C57BL/6JRj)WTJanvier Labs
Genetic reagent (Mus musculus)Tg(Hey1-EGFP)ID40GsatGENSATMGI:4847129
Recombinant DNA reagentpcDNA3.1- Dll4(ECD)- His(6x)-Asp(8x)(plasmid)This paperDll4-Asp(8x)
Recombinant DNA reagentpcDNA3.1- Dll4(ECD)- Variant- His(6x)-Asp(8x) (plasmid)This paperDll4(E12)
Recombinant DNA reagentpLIVE-Dll4(ECD)-His(6x)-Asp(8x) (plasmid)This paperpLIVE-Dll4-Asp(8x)
Recombinant DNA reagentpLIVE-Dll4(ECD) Variant- His(6x)-Asp(8x) (plasmid)This paperpLIVE-Dll4(E12)
Recombinant DNA reagentpcDNA3.1- Jag1 (ECD)- His(6x)-Asp(8x)(plasmid)This paperJag1- Asp(8x)
Recombinant DNA reagentpcDNA3.1- Jag1 (ECD)- JV1- His(6x)-Asp(8x)(plasmid)This paperJag1(JV1)
Recombinant DNA reagentpLIVE- Jag1 (ECD)- His(6x)-Asp(8x) (plasmid)This paperpLIVE-Jag1- Asp(8x)
Recombinant DNA reagentpLIVE- Jag1 (ECD)- JV1- His(6x)-Asp(8x) (plasmid)This paperpLIVE-Jag1(JV1)
Cell line (Homo sapiens)Human Umbilical Vein Endothelial Cells (HUVEC)ThermoFisherCat# C0035CCell identity and absence of mycoplasma contamination or human pathogens were certified by the supplier
Cell line (Homo sapiens)Human Embryonal kidney –293(HEK293)DSMZCat# ACC 305Cell identity and absence of mycoplasma contamination were certified by the supplier
AntibodyAnti-Endomucin (Rat, monoclonal)Santa CruzCat# SC-65495IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-PECAM-1(Rat, monoclonal)PharmigenCat# 553,370IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-CD31(Goat, polyclonal)R&D SystemsCat# FAB3628IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-Pdgfrβ (Goat, polyclonal)R&D SystemsCat# AF1042IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-NG2 (Rabbit, polyclonal)MilliporeCat# AB5320IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-BCAM (Goat, polyclonal)R&D SystemsCat# AF8299IF (1:50)
AntibodyAnti-ATP6V1B1+ ATP6V1B2 (Rabbit, polyclonal)AbcamCat# ab200839IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-Aggrecan (Rabbit, polyclonal)MilliporeCat# AB1031IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-Sox9 (Goat, polyclonal)R&D SystemsCat# AF3075IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-Perilipin (Rabbit, polyclonal)Cell SignalingCat# 9349IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-Osterix (Rabbit, polyclonal)AbcamCat# ab22552IF (1:1000)
AntibodyAnti-Collagen Type I (Rabbit, polyclonal)MilliporeCat# AB765PIF (1:200)
AntibodyAnti-Osteopontin (Goat, polyclonal)R&D SystemsCat# AF808IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-Osteocalcin (Rabbit, polyclonal)LifeSpan BioSciencesCat# LS-C17044IF (1:100)
AntibodyAnti-Runx2 (Rabbit, monoclonal)R&D SystemsCat# MAB2006IF (1:50)
AntibodyAnti-Dll4 (Goat, polyclonal)R&D SystemsCat# AF1389IF (1:100)WB (1:200)
AntibodyAnti-Jag1 (Goat, polyclonal)SigmaCat# J4127IF (1:100)WB (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-GAPDH (Rabbit, monoclonal)AmbionCat# AM4300WB (1:1000)
AntibodyAnti-CD45-FITC (Rat, monoclonal)eBioscienceCat# 11–0451
AntibodyAnti-CD8-Biotin (Rat, monoclonal)eBioscienceCat# 13–0081
AntibodyAnti-CD4-APC (Rat, monoclonal)eBioscienceCat# 17-0042-82
AntibodyStreptavidin PE/Cy7Thermo ScientificCat# SA1012
AntibodyLineage Cell Depletion KitMiltenyi BiotecCat# 130-090-858
AntibodyCD45 MicrobeadsMiltenyi BiotecCat# 130-052-301
AntibodyCD117 MicrobeadsMiltenyi BiotecCat# 130-091-224
AntibodyTer-119 MicrobeadsMiltenyi BiotecCat# 130-049-901
AntibodyAnti-rabbit Alexa Fluor-488 (Donkey, polyclonal)InvitrogenCat# A21206IF (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-rabbit Alexa Fluor-594 (Donkey, polyclonal)InvitrogenCat# A21207IF (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-rabbit Alexa Fluor-647 (Donkey, polyclonal)InvitrogenCat# A31573IF (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-rat Alexa Fluor-488 (Donkey, polyclonal)InvitrogenCat# A21208IF (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-rat Alexa Fluor-594 (Donkey, polyclonal)InvitrogenCat# A21209IF (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-rat Alexa Fluor-647 (Donkey, polyclonal)Jackson ImmunoResearchCat# 712-605-153IF (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-rat Alexa Fluor-647 (Donkey, polyclonal)InvitrogenCat# A21247IF (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-goat Alexa Fluor-488 (Donkey, polyclonal)InvitrogenCat# A11055IF (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-goat Alexa Fluor-647 (Donkey, polyclonal)InvitrogenCat# A21447IF (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-goat Alexa Fluor-647 (Donkey, polyclonal)Thermo ScientificCat# A32849IF (1:500)
AntibodyAnti-rabbit IgG HRP-linked (Goat)Cell SignalingCat# 7074WB (1:15000)
AntibodyAnti-goat IgG HRP-linked (Donkey)Antibody onlineCat# ABIN1536502WB (1:15000)
AntibodyAnti-mouse IgG 656G HRP-linked (Sheep)GE HealthcareCat# NA931WB (1:40000)
AntibodyAnti-goat IgG (H + L) Peroxidase AffiniPure BovineJackson ImmunoResearchCat# 805-035-180WB (1:15000)
Sequence-based reagentHuman GAPDH Endogenous Control (VIC/MGB probe, primer limited)Applied BiosystemsCat# 4326317ETaqMan probe Hs99999905_m1
Sequence-based reagentHuman ACTB Endogenous Control (VIC/MGB probe, primer limited)Applied BiosystemsCat# 4326315ETaqMan probe Hs99999903_m1
Sequence-based reagentHuman HEY1 TaqMan Gene Expression Assay (FAM)Applied BiosystemsCat# 4331182TaqMan probe Hs00232618_m1
Sequence-based reagentHuman DLL4 TaqMan Gene Expression Assay (FAM)Applied BiosystemsCat# 4331182TaqMan probe Hs00184092_m1
Sequence-based reagentHuman HEY2 TaqMan Gene Expression Assay (FAM)Applied BiosystemsCat# 4331182TaqMan probe Hs00232622_m1
Sequence-based reagentHuman HES1 TaqMan Gene Expression Assay (FAM)Applied BiosystemsCat# 4331182TaqMan probe Hs00172878_m1
Sequence-based reagentHuman EFNB2 TaqMan Gene Expression Assay (FAM)Applied BiosystemsCat# 4331182TaqMan probe Hs00187950_m1
Sequence-based reagentHuman NRARP TaqMan Gene Expression Assay (FAM)Applied BiosystemsCat# 4331182TaqMan probe Hs01104102_s1
Peptide, recombinant proteinRecombinant Human PTH (1-34)BACHEMCat# H-4835-GMP, 4033364
Commercial assay or kitBCA Protein Assay KitPierceCat# 23225
Commercial assay or kitRNeasy Plus Micro KitQIAGENCat# 74034
Commercial assay or kitiScript cDNA Synthesis KitBIO-RADCat# 170–8891
Commercial assay or kitSsoAdvanced Universal Probes SupermixBIO-RADCat# 172–5284
Commercial assay or kitLEGENDplex Mouse Inflammation Panel (13-plex) with V-bottom platesBioLegendCat# 740446
Commercial assay or kitAnticoagulant EDTA-treated MicrovettesSarstedtCat# 20.1341
Commercial assay or kitBD Rhapsody Whole Transcriptome Analysis (WTA) Amplification kitBD BiosciencesCat# 633,801
Commercial assay or kitAgencourt AMPure XP magnetic beadsBeckman Coulter Life SciencesCat# A638880
Commercial assay or kitDisposable polystyrene columnsThermo ScientificCat# 29922
Commercial assay or kitAmicon Ultra-0.5 Centrifugal FilterMilliporeCat# UFC500396
Commercial assay or kitPierce Slide-A-Lyzer 10K MWCO Dialysis CassettesThermo ScientificCat# 66380
Chemical compound, drugNi-NTA agarose resinQiagenCat# 302010
Chemical compound, drugSucroseSigmaCat# S0389
Chemical compound, drugcOmplete ULTRA Tablets Protease Inhibitor CocktailRocheCat# 05892970001
Chemical compound, drugPhosphatase inhibitor cocktail set VEMD MilliporeCat# 524629
Chemical compound, drugSimplyBlue SafeStainInvitrogenCat# LC6060
Chemical compound, drugGelatineSigmaCat# G1890
Chemical compound, drugPolyvinylpyrrolidoneSigmaCat# P5288
Chemical compound, drugTrypsin-EDTA solutionSigmaCat# T3924
Chemical compound, drugParaformaldehydeSigmaCat# P6148
Chemical compound, drug70 kDa Dextran, Texas Red Lysine fixableMolecular ProbesCat# D1864
Chemical compound, drugCalceinSigmaCat# C0875
Chemical compound, drugFluoromount-GSouthern BiotechCat# 0100–01
Chemical compound, drugECL Prime Western Blotting Detection ReagentGE-HealthcareCat# RPN2236
Chemical compound, drug4-Hydroxy tamoxifenSigmaCat# H7904
Chemical compound, drugHematoxilinSigmaCat# MHS16
Chemical compound, drugDimethyl sulfoxideSigmaCat# D8418
Chemical compound, drugMEM200 endothelial cells mediumThermoFisherCat# M200500
Chemical compound, drugLSGSThermoFisherCat# S00310
Chemical compound, drugEBM-2 endothelial cells mediumLonzaCat# CC-3156
Chemical compound, drugEGM-2 Single QuotsLonzaCat# CC-4176
Chemical compound, drugOpti-MEMGibcoCat# 31985–047
Chemical compound, drugPoly-L-lysineSigmaCat# P6282
Chemical compound, drugHEPESSigmaCat# H3537
Chemical compound, drugKetamineZoetisCat# 344771
Chemical compound, drugRompumBayer HealthCareCat# D-51368
Chemical compound, drugCollagenase IGibcoCat# 17100–017
Chemical compound, drugCollagenase IVGibcoCat# 17104–019
Chemical compound, drugDispaseGibcoCat# 17105–041
Software, algorithmImageJ (v2.0.0 Fiji)Schindelin et al., 2012
Software, algorithmVolocity (v6.3)Perkin Elmer
Software, algorithmIllustrator (vCC2018)Adobe
Software, algorithmGraphPad Prism7GraphPad Software
Software, algorithmFlowJo (v10.3)BD Life Sciences
OtherDAPI stainSigmaCat# D9542(1 mg/mL)

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