tbx5, a member of the T-box gene family, encodes one of the key transcription factors mediating vertebrate heart development. Tbx5 function in heart development appears to be exquisitely sensitive to gene dosage, since both haploinsufficiency and gene duplication generate the cardiac abnormalities associated with Holt−Oram syndrome (HOS), a highly penetrant autosomal dominant disease characterized by congenital heart defects of varying severity and upper limb malformation. It is suggested that tight integration of microRNAs and transcription factors into the cardiac genetic circuitry provides a rich and robust array of regulatory interactions to control cardiac gene expression. Based on these considerations, we performed an in silico screening to identify microRNAs embedded in genes highly sensitive to Tbx5 dosage. Among the identified microRNAs, we focused our attention on miR-218-1 that, together with its host gene, slit2, is involved in heart development. We found correlated expression of tbx5 and miR-218 during cardiomyocyte differentiation of mouse P19CL6 cells. In zebrafish embryos, we show that both Tbx5 and miR-218 dysregulation have a severe impact on heart development, affecting early heart morphogenesis. Interestingly, down-regulation of miR-218 is able to rescue the heart defects generated by tbx5 over-expression supporting the notion that miR-218 is a crucial mediator of Tbx5 in heart development and suggesting its possible involvement in the onset of heart malformations.

A multi-subunit ubiquitin ligase, the anaphase-promoting complex/cyclosome (APC/C), regulates critical cellular processes including the cell cycle. To accomplish its diverse functions, APC/C activity must be precisely regulated in time and space. The interphase APC/C activator Fizzy-related (Fzr or Cdh1) is localized at centrosomes in animal cells. However, neither the mechanism of its localization nor its importance is clear. Here we identify the centrosome component Spd2 as a major partner of Fzr in Drosophila. The localization of Fzr to the centriole during interphase depends on direct interaction with Spd2. By generating Spd2 mutants unable to bind Fzr, we show that centrosomal localization of Fzr is essential for optimal APC/C activation towards its centrosomal substrate Aurora A. Finally, we show that Spd2 is also a novel APC/CFzr substrate. Our study is the first to demonstrate the critical importance of distinct subcellular pools of APC/C activators in the spatiotemporal control of APC/C activity.

SummaryThe cell cycle is coordinated with differentiation during animal development. Here we report a cell-cycle-independent developmental role for a master cell-cycle regulator, the anaphase-promoting complex or cyclosome (APC/C), in the regulation of cell fate through modulation of Wingless (Wg) signaling. The APC/C controls both cell-cycle progression and postmitotic processes through ubiquitin-dependent proteolysis. Through an RNAi screen in the developing Drosophila eye, we found that partial APC/C inactivation severely inhibits retinal differentiation independently of cell-cycle defects. The differentiation inhibition coincides with hyperactivation of Wg signaling caused by the accumulation of a Wg modulator, Drosophila Nek2 (dNek2). The APC/C degrades dNek2 upon synchronous G1 arrest prior to differentiation, which allows retinal differentiation through local suppression of Wg signaling. We also provide evidence that decapentaplegic signaling may posttranslationally regulate this APC/C function. Thus, the APC/C coordinates cell-fate determination with the cell cycle through the modulation of developmental signaling pathways.

Recent evidences indicate that epigenetic changes play an important role in the transcriptional reprogramming of gene expression that characterizes cardiac hypertrophy and failure and may dictate response to therapy. Several data demonstrate that microRNAs (miRNAs) play critical roles both in normal cardiac function and under pathological conditions. Here we assessed, in in vivo rat models of myocardial infarction (MI) and ischemia-reperfusion (IR), the relationship between two miRNAs (miR-29a and miR-30c) and de novo methyltransferase (DNMT3a) which, altering the chromatin accessibility for transcription factors, deeply impacts gene expression. We showed that the levels of members of miR-29 and miR- 30 families were down regulated in ischemic tissues whilst the protein levels of DNMT3a were increased, such a relation was not present in healthy tissues. Furthermore, by an in vitro assay, we demonstrated that both miRNAs are able to down regulate DNMT3a by directly interacting with DNMT3a 3’UTR and that miR-29a or miR-30c overexpression in the cardiac HL1 cell line causes decrease of DNMT3a enzyme both at the mRNA and protein levels. Our data, besides confirming the down regulation of the miR-29a and miR-30c in infarcted tissues, envisage a cross-talk between microRNAs and chromatin modifying enzymes suggesting a new mechanism that might generate the alterations of DNA methylation often observed in myocardial pathophysiology.