Hofe Patrick, Gardner Tynan, DiNardo Stephen, Anllo Lauren
Department of Biology, East Carolina University, Greenville, NC 27858.
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104.
bioRxiv. 2025 May 15:2025.05.09.653127. doi: 10.1101/2025.05.09.653127.
Stem cells require signals from a cellular microenvironment known as the niche that regulates identity, location, and division of stem cells. Niche cell identity must be properly specified during development to form a tissue capable of functioning in the adult Here, we show that the Tbx1 ortholog is expressed in testis niche cells in response to Slit and FGF signals. is expressed during niche development and is required to specify niche cell identity. mutants specified fewer niche cells, and those cells showed disruption of niche-specific markers, including loss of the niche adhesion protein Fas3 and reduced expression. We found that expression in somatic gonadal precursors is capable of inducing formation of additional niche cells. Disrupted niche identity in mutants resulted in niche assembly and functionality defects. We find the conserved transcription factor is expressed in response to and show that functions downstream to mediate niche identity and assembly. This work identifies a novel role for in niche establishment.
干细胞需要来自一种称为微环境的细胞微环境的信号，这种微环境调节干细胞的特性、位置和分裂。在发育过程中，微环境细胞特性必须得到正确指定，以形成一个能够在成体中发挥功能的组织。在这里，我们表明，Tbx1直系同源基因在睾丸微环境细胞中响应Slit和FGF信号而表达。它在微环境发育过程中表达，是指定微环境细胞特性所必需的。突变体指定的微环境细胞较少，并且这些细胞显示出微环境特异性标记的破坏，包括微环境粘附蛋白Fas3的缺失和表达降低。我们发现，在体细胞性腺前体中的表达能够诱导额外微环境细胞的形成。突变体中微环境特性的破坏导致微环境组装和功能缺陷。我们发现保守转录因子响应而表达，并表明其在下游发挥作用以介导微环境特性和组装。这项工作确定了在微环境建立中的新作用。
