title: Collier/OLF/EBF-dependent transcriptional dynamics control pharyngeal muscle specification from primed cardiopharyngeal progenitors.
abstract: In vertebrates, pluripotent pharyngeal mesoderm progenitors produce the cardiac precursors of the second heart field as well as the branchiomeric head muscles and associated stem cells. However, the mechanisms underlying the transition from multipotent progenitors to distinct muscle precursors remain obscured by the complexity of vertebrate embryos. Using Ciona intestinalis as a simple chordate model, we show that bipotent cardiopharyngeal progenitors are primed to activate both heart and pharyngeal muscle transcriptional programs, which progressively become restricted to corresponding precursors. The transcription factor COE (Collier/OLF/EBF) orchestrates the transition to pharyngeal muscle fate both by promoting an MRF-associated myogenic program in myoblasts and by maintaining an undifferentiated state in their sister cells through Notch-mediated lateral inhibition. The latter are stem cell-like muscle precursors that form most of the juvenile pharyngeal muscles. We discuss the implications of our findings for the development and evolution of the chordate cardiopharyngeal mesoderm.
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Genetics, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Florian
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Razy-Krajka
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Genetics, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA.
authors.forename: Karen
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Lam
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Genetics, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Wei
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Genetics, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Alberto
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stolfi
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Genetics, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA.
authors.forename: Marine
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Joly
authors.affiliation: Center for Genomics and Systems Biology, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA; Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences, New York University, New York, NY 10012, USA.
authors.forename: Richard
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bonneau
authors.affiliation: Center for Developmental Genetics, Department of Biology, New York University, New York, NY 10003, USA. Electronic address: lc121@nyu.edu.
authors.forename: Lionel
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Christiaen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics; D002938:Ciona intestinalis; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D006321:Heart / Q000196:embryology*; D008648:Mesoderm / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology; D024510:Muscle Development; D010609:Pharyngeal Muscles / Q000196:embryology*; D010614:Pharynx / Q000196:embryology*; D051880:Receptors, Notch / Q000378:metabolism; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000096:biosynthesis; D014158:Transcription, Genetic
chemical_list: D051880:Receptors, Notch; D014157:Transcription Factors