PUBLICATION

Defects in ErbB-dependent establishment of adult melanocyte stem cells reveal independent origins for embryonic and regeneration melanocytes

Authors
Hultman, K.A., Budi, E.H., Teasley, D.C., Gottlieb, A.Y., Parichy, D.M., and Johnson, S.L.
ID
ZDB-PUB-090714-7
Date
2009
Source
PLoS Genetics   5(7): e1000544 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Budi, Erine, Hultman, Keith, Johnson, Stephen L., Parichy, David M.
Keywords
Melanocytes, Mesenchymal stem cells, Larvae, Embryos, Adult stem cells, Stem cell therapy, Metamorphosis, Zebrafish
MeSH Terms
  • Adult Stem Cells/cytology*
  • Adult Stem Cells/drug effects
  • Adult Stem Cells/metabolism
  • Animals
  • Cell Differentiation
  • Embryonic Stem Cells/cytology*
  • Embryonic Stem Cells/drug effects
  • Embryonic Stem Cells/metabolism
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
  • Melanocytes/cytology*
  • Melanocytes/drug effects
  • Melanocytes/metabolism
  • Morpholines/pharmacology
  • Mutation
  • Phenols/pharmacology
  • Receptor, ErbB-3/genetics
  • Receptor, ErbB-3/metabolism*
  • Signal Transduction
  • Stem Cell Factor/genetics
  • Stem Cell Factor/metabolism
  • Zebrafish/embryology
  • Zebrafish/genetics
  • Zebrafish/physiology*
  • Zebrafish Proteins/genetics
  • Zebrafish Proteins/metabolism*
PubMed
19578401 Full text @ PLoS Genet.
Abstract
Adult stem cells are responsible for maintaining and repairing tissues during the life of an organism. Tissue repair in humans, however, is limited compared to the regenerative capabilities of other vertebrates, such as the zebrafish (Danio rerio). An understanding of stem cell mechanisms, such as how they are established, their self-renewal properties, and their recruitment to produce new cells is therefore important for the application of regenerative medicine. We use larval melanocyte regeneration following treatment with the melanocytotoxic drug MoTP to investigate these mechanisms in Melanocyte Stem Cell (MSC) regulation. In this paper, we show that the receptor tyrosine kinase, erbb3b, is required for establishing the adult MSC responsible for regenerating the larval melanocyte population. Both the erbb3b mutant and wild-type fish treated with the ErbB inhibitor, AG1478, develop normal embryonic melanocytes but fail to regenerate melanocytes after MoTP-induced melanocyte ablation. By administering AG1478 at different time points, we show that ErbB signaling is only required for regeneration prior to MoTP treatment and before 48 hours of development, consistent with a role in establishing MSCs. We then show that overexpression of kitla, the Kit ligand, in transgenic larvae leads to recruitment of MSCs, resulting in overproliferation of melanocytes. Furthermore, kitla overexpression can rescue AG1478-blocked regeneration, suggesting that ErbB signaling is required to promote the progression and specification of the MSC from a pre-MSC state. This study provides evidence that ErbB signaling is required for the establishment of adult MSCs during embryonic development. That this requirement is not shared with the embryonic melanocytes suggests that embryonic melanocytes develop directly, without proceeding through the ErbB-dependent MSC. Moreover, the shared requirement of larval melanocyte regeneration and metamorphic melanocytes that develops at the larval-to-adult transition suggests that these post-embryonic melanocytes develop from the same adult MSC population. Lastly, that kitla overexpression can recruit the MSC to develop excess melanocytes raises the possibility that Kit signaling may be involved in MSC recruitment during regeneration.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping