Shahin Rafii

Plasticity between cell lineages is a fundamental but poorly understood property of regenerative tissues. In the gut tube, small intestine absorbs nutrients whereas colon absorbs electrolytes. In a striking display of inherent plasticity, adult colonic mucosa lacking the chromatin factor SATB2 is converted to small intestine. Using proteomics and CRISPR-Cas9 screen, we identified MTA2 as a crucial component of the molecular machinery that, together with SATB2, restrain colonic plasticity. MTA2 loss in adult mouse colon activated lipid absorptive genes and functional lipid uptake. Mechanistically, MTA2 co-binds with HNF4A, an activating pan-intestine transcription factor (TF), on colonic chromatin. MTA2 loss leads to HNF4A release from colonic and gain on small intestinal chromatin. SATB2 similarly restrains colonic plasticity through a HNF4A-dependent mechanism. Our study provides a generalizable model of lineage plasticity in which broadly-expressed TFs are retained on tissue-specific enhancers to maintain cell identity and prevent activation of alternative lineages; their release unleashes plasticity.

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Glomerular filtration relies on the type IV collagen (ColIV) network of the glomerular basement membrane, namely, in the triple helical molecules containing the α3, α4, and α5 chains of ColIV. Loss of function mutations in the genes encoding these chains (Col4a3, Col4a4, and Col4a5) is associated with the loss of renal function observed in Alport syndrome (AS). Precise understanding of the cellular basis for the patho-mechanism remains unknown and a specific therapy for this disease does not currently exist. Here, we generated a novel allele for the conditional deletion of Col4a3 in different glomerular cell types in mice. We found that podocytes specifically generate α3 chains in the developing glomerular basement membrane, and that its absence is sufficient to impair glomerular filtration as seen in AS. Next, we show that horizontal gene transfer, enhanced by TGFβ1 and using allogenic bone marrow–derived …

Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is the fourth leading cause of death worldwide and current therapy only treats symptoms but cannot stop progression of this debilitating disease. Current efforts have been directed at blocking lung inflammation to stop lung destruction, but the long-term benefit of this approach has been limited. Emerging data points to the centrality of the lung microvasculature to the pathogenesis of COPD but little is known of how vascular damage leads to progressive lung destruction. Defining the mechanism (s) of vascular pathogenesis of COPD provides a therapeutic path forward to reduce the morbidity and mortality for millions of patients with COPD. Endothelial cells (ECs) have increasingly been found to function not only as vascular conduits, but also as coordinators of organ homeostasis, regeneration, and repair by supplying tissue-specific growth factors, known as angiocrine …

Bone marrow endothelial cells deliver oxygen and nutrients and regulate bone formation and haematopoiesis in the surrounding microenvironment. A new study identifies a subtype of capillary that occurs exclusively in the epiphysis and displays unique characteristics that have a role in balancing osteogenesis and haematopoiesis.

Aging associated defects within stem cell-supportive niches contribute towards age-related decline in stem cell activity. However, mechanisms underlying age-related niche defects, and whether restoring niche function can improve stem cell fitness, remain unclear. Here, we sought to determine whether aged blood stem cell function can be restored by rejuvenating their supportive niches within the bone marrow (BM). We identify Netrin-1 as a critical regulator of BM niche cell aging. Niche-specific deletion of Netrin-1 induces premature aging phenotypes within the BM microenvironment, while supplementation of aged mice with Netrin-1 rejuvenates aged niche cells and restores competitive fitness of aged blood stem cells to youthful levels. We show that Netrin-1 plays an essential role in maintaining active DNA damage responses (DDR), and that aging-associated decline in niche-derived Netrin-1 results in DNA …

Niche-derived growth factors support self-renewal of mouse spermatogonial stem and progenitor cells through ERK MAPK signaling and other pathways. At the same time, dysregulated growth factor-dependent signaling has been associated with loss of stem cell activity and aberrant differentiation. We hypothesized that growth factor signaling through the ERK MAPK pathway in spermatogonial stem cells is tightly regulated within a narrow range through distinct intracellular negative feedback regulators. Evaluation of candidate extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK)-responsive genes known to dampen downstream signaling revealed robust induction of specific negative feedback regulators, including Spry4, in cultured mouse spermatogonial stem cells in response to glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor or fibroblast growth factor 2. Undifferentiated …