Control of craniofacial development by the collagen receptor, discoidin domain receptor 2

  1. Fatma F Mohamed
  2. Chunxi Ge
  3. Shawn A Hallett
  4. Alec C Bancroft
  5. Randy T Cowling
  6. Noriaki Ono
  7. Abdul-Aziz Binrayes
  8. Barry Greenberg
  9. Benjamin Levi
  10. Vesa M Kaartinen
  11. Renny T Franceschi  Is a corresponding author
  1. University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, United States
  2. The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, United States
  3. University of California, San Diego, United States
  4. The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, United States
  5. King Saud University, Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Development of the craniofacial skeleton requires interactions between progenitor cells and the collagen-rich extracellular matrix (ECM). The mediators of these interactions are not well-defined. Mutations in the discoidin domain receptor 2 gene (DDR2), which encodes a non-integrin collagen receptor, are associated with human craniofacial abnormalities, such as midface hypoplasia and open fontanels. However, the exact role of this gene in craniofacial morphogenesis is not known. As will be shown, Ddr2-deficient mice exhibit defects in craniofacial bones including impaired calvarial growth and frontal suture formation, cranial base hypoplasia due to aberrant chondrogenesis and delayed ossification at growth plate synchondroses. These defects were associated with abnormal collagen fibril organization, chondrocyte proliferation and polarization. As established by localization and lineage tracing studies, Ddr2 is expressed in progenitor cell-enriched craniofacial regions including sutures and synchondrosis resting zone cartilage, overlapping with GLI1+ cells, and contributing to chondrogenic and osteogenic lineages during skull growth. Tissue-specific knockouts further established the requirement for Ddr2 in GLI+ skeletal progenitors and chondrocytes. These studies establish a cellular basis for regulation of craniofacial morphogenesis by this understudied collagen receptor and suggest that DDR2 is necessary for proper collagen organization, chondrocyte proliferation and orientation.

Data availability

All data generated or analysed during this study are included in the manuscript and source data files

Article and author information

Author details

  1. Fatma F Mohamed

    Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  2. Chunxi Ge

    Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  3. Shawn A Hallett

    Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-1472-7502
  4. Alec C Bancroft

    Department of Surgery, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  5. Randy T Cowling

    Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  6. Noriaki Ono

    Department of Diagnostic and Biomedical Sciences, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Houston, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0002-3771-8230
  7. Abdul-Aziz Binrayes

    Department of Prosthetic Dental Sciences, King Saud University, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  8. Barry Greenberg

    Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, University of California, San Diego, San Diego, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  9. Benjamin Levi

    Department of Surgery, The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  10. Vesa M Kaartinen

    Department of Biologic and Materials Science, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
  11. Renny T Franceschi

    Department of Periodontics and Oral Medicine, University of Michigan-Ann Arbor, Ann Arbor, United States
    For correspondence
    rennyf@umich.edu
    Competing interests
    The authors declare that no competing interests exist.
    ORCID icon "This ORCID iD identifies the author of this article:" 0000-0003-1405-2541

Funding

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (R01DE11723)

  • Renny T Franceschi

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (R21DE029012)

  • Renny T Franceschi

National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research (R01DE029465)

  • Renny T Franceschi

U.S. Department of Defense (PR190899)

  • Renny T Franceschi

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (R01AR078324)

  • Benjamin Levi

National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (P30AR069620)

  • Renny T Franceschi

Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research

  • Fatma F Mohamed

King Saud University

  • Abdul-Aziz Binrayes

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

Ethics

Animal experimentation: This study was performed in strict compliance with the Guidelines for the Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Research. All of the animals were handled according to approved institutional animal care and use committee (IACUC) protocols (PRO9305, PRO10975) of the University of Michigan.

Copyright

© 2023, Mohamed 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.

Metrics

  • 1,461
    views
  • 278
    downloads
  • 12
    citations

Views, downloads and citations are aggregated across all versions of this paper published by eLife.

Download links

A two-part list of links to download the article, or parts of the article, in various formats.

Downloads (link to download the article as PDF)

Open citations (links to open the citations from this article in various online reference manager services)

Cite this article (links to download the citations from this article in formats compatible with various reference manager tools)

  1. Fatma F Mohamed
  2. Chunxi Ge
  3. Shawn A Hallett
  4. Alec C Bancroft
  5. Randy T Cowling
  6. Noriaki Ono
  7. Abdul-Aziz Binrayes
  8. Barry Greenberg
  9. Benjamin Levi
  10. Vesa M Kaartinen
  11. Renny T Franceschi
(2023)
Control of craniofacial development by the collagen receptor, discoidin domain receptor 2
eLife 12:e77257.
https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.77257

Share this article

https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.77257

Further reading

    1. Cancer Biology
    2. Cell Biology
    Xiangning Bu, Nathanael Ashby ... Inhee Chung
    Research Article

    Cell crowding is a common microenvironmental factor influencing various disease processes, but its role in promoting cell invasiveness remains unclear. This study investigates the biomechanical changes induced by cell crowding, focusing on pro-invasive cell volume reduction in ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS). Crowding specifically enhanced invasiveness in high-grade DCIS cells through significant volume reduction compared to hyperplasia-mimicking or normal cells. Mass spectrometry revealed that crowding selectively relocated ion channels, including TRPV4, to the plasma membrane in high-grade DCIS cells. TRPV4 inhibition triggered by crowding decreased intracellular calcium levels, reduced cell volume, and increased invasion and motility. During this process, TRPV4 membrane relocation primed the channel for later activation, compensating for calcium loss. Analyses of patient-derived breast cancer tissues confirmed that plasma membrane-associated TRPV4 is specific to high-grade DCIS and indicates the presence of a pro-invasive cell volume reduction mechanotransduction pathway. Hyperosmotic conditions and pharmacologic TRPV4 inhibition mimicked crowding-induced effects, while TRPV4 activation reversed them. Silencing TRPV4 diminished mechanotransduction in high-grade DCIS cells, reducing calcium depletion, volume reduction, and motility. This study uncovers a novel pro-invasive mechanotransduction pathway driven by cell crowding and identifies TRPV4 as a potential biomarker for predicting invasion risk in DCIS patients.

    1. Cell Biology
    Dan Wu, Venkateswararao Eeda ... Weidong Wang
    Research Article

    Overnutrition engenders the expansion of adipose tissue and the accumulation of immune cells, in particular, macrophages, in the adipose tissue, leading to chronic low-grade inflammation and insulin resistance. In obesity, several proinflammatory subpopulations of adipose tissue macrophages (ATMs) identified hitherto include the conventional ‘M1-like’ CD11C-expressing ATM and the newly discovered metabolically activated CD9-expressing ATM; however, the relationship among ATM subpopulations is unclear. The ER stress sensor inositol-requiring enzyme 1α (IRE1α) is activated in the adipocytes and immune cells under obesity. It is unknown whether targeting IRE1α is capable of reversing insulin resistance and obesity and modulating the metabolically activated ATMs. We report that pharmacological inhibition of IRE1α RNase significantly ameliorates insulin resistance and glucose intolerance in male mice with diet-induced obesity. IRE1α inhibition also increases thermogenesis and energy expenditure, and hence protects against high fat diet-induced obesity. Our study shows that the ‘M1-like’ CD11c+ ATMs are largely overlapping with but yet non-identical to CD9+ ATMs in obese white adipose tissue. Notably, IRE1α inhibition diminishes the accumulation of obesity-induced metabolically activated ATMs and ‘M1-like’ ATMs, resulting in the curtailment of adipose inflammation and ensuing reactivation of thermogenesis, without augmentation of the alternatively activated M2 macrophage population. Our findings suggest the potential of targeting IRE1α for the therapeutic treatment of insulin resistance and obesity.