Wnt-β-catenin signaling initiates taste papilla development

106

100

R-Spondin1 (RSpo1) is a novel secreted protein that augments canonical Wnt/␤-catenin signaling. We injected recombinant RSpo1 protein into transgenic Wnt reporter TOPGAL mice and have identified the oral mucosa as a target tissue for RSpo1. Administration of RSpo1 into normal mice triggered nuclear translocation of ␤-catenin and resulted in increased basal layer cellularity, thickened mucosa, and elevated epithelial cell proliferation in tongue. We herein evaluated the therapeutic potential of RSpo1 in treating chemotherapy or radiotherapyinduced oral mucositis in several mouse models. Prophylactic treatment with RSpo1 dose-dependently overcame the reduction of basal layer epithelial cellularity, mucosal thickness, and epithelial cell proliferation in tongues of mice exposed to whole-body irradiation. RSpo1 administration also substantially alleviated tongue mucositis in the oral cavity of mice receiving concomitant 5-fluorouracil and x-ray radiation. Furthermore, RSpo1 significantly reduced the extent of tongue ulceration in mice receiving a single fraction, high dose head-only radiation in a dose-dependent manner. Moreover, combined therapy of RSpo1 and keratinocyte growth factor resulted in complete healing of tongue ulcers in mice subjected to snout-only irradiation. In conclusion, our results demonstrate RSpo1 to be a potent therapeutic agent for oral mucositis by enhancing basal layer epithelial regeneration and accelerating mucosal repair through upregulation of Wnt/␤-catenin pathway.RSpo1 ͉ tongue ulceration ͉ head-only radiation ͉ TOPGAL ͉ 5-FU

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 90%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

R-Spondin1 protects mice from chemotherapy or radiation-induced oral mucositis through the canonical Wnt/β-catenin pathway

Zhao¹,

Kim²,

Vera³

et al. 2009

106

100

“…3 C, D, G, H, K, and L). β-catenin is a key component of the canonical Wnt-signaling pathway known to interact with Sox2 (31, 32) and to regulate both tooth and taste-bud development in osteichthyans (17,(33)(34)(35). Throughout early development, we found continuous colocalization of sox2 and β-catenin, first within the basal epithelium in the early OGB (Fig.…”

Section: Teeth and Taste Buds Emerge From A Common Sox2+ Progenitormentioning

confidence: 72%

Sox2+ progenitors in sharks link taste development with the evolution of regenerative teeth from denticles

Martin

Rasch

Cooper

et al. 2016

146

Teeth and denticles belong to a specialized class of mineralizing epithelial appendages called odontodes. Although homology of oral teeth in jawed vertebrates is well supported, the evolutionary origin of teeth and their relationship with other odontode types is less clear. We compared the cellular and molecular mechanisms directing development of teeth and skin denticles in sharks, where both odontode types are retained. We show that teeth and denticles are deeply homologous developmental modules with equivalent underlying odontode gene regulatory networks (GRNs). Notably, the expression of the epithelial progenitor and stem cell marker sex-determining region Y-related box 2 (sox2) was tooth-specific and this correlates with notable differences in odontode regenerative ability. Whereas shark teeth retain the ancestral gnathostome character of continuous successional regeneration, new denticles arise only asynchronously with growth or after wounding. Sox2+ putative stem cells associated with the shark dental lamina (DL) emerge from a field of epithelial progenitors shared with anteriormost taste buds, before establishing within slow-cycling cell niches at the (i) superficial taste/tooth junction (T/TJ), and (ii) deep successional lamina (SL) where tooth regeneration initiates. Furthermore, during regeneration, cells from the superficial T/TJ migrate into the SL and contribute to new teeth, demonstrating persistent contribution of taste-associated progenitors to tooth regeneration in vivo. This data suggests a trajectory for tooth evolution involving cooption of the odontode GRN from nonregenerating denticles by sox2+ progenitors native to the oral taste epithelium, facilitating the evolution of a novel regenerative module of odontodes in the mouth of early jawed vertebrates: the teeth.regeneration | stem cells | odontogenesis | chondrichthyes | evolutionary novelty

“…However, the exact role of the Wnt signaling pathway for taste tissue renewal during adulthood remains unclear. Nevertheless, during development, Wnt signaling plays a major role in fungiform taste papillae formation and seems to be regionally specific (35,36). Single Lgr5 + or Lgr6 + cells can give rise to different types of taste cells in our 3D organoid cultures, indicating that some of these cells are multipotent.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 86%

Single Lgr5- or Lgr6-expressing taste stem/progenitor cells generate taste bud cells ex vivo

Ren

Lewandowski

Watson

et al. 2014

173

189

Leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5 (Lgr5) and its homologs (e.g., Lgr6) mark adult stem cells in multiple tissues. Recently, we and others have shown that Lgr5 marks adult taste stem/progenitor cells in posterior tongue. However, the regenerative potential of Lgr5-expressing (Lgr5 + ) cells and the identity of adult taste stem/progenitor cells that regenerate taste tissue in anterior tongue remain elusive. In the present work, we describe a culture system in which single isolated Lgr5 + or Lgr6 + cells from taste tissue can generate continuously expanding 3D structures ("organoids"). Many cells within these taste organoids were cycling and positive for proliferative cell markers, cytokeratin K5 and Sox2, and incorporated 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine. Importantly, mature taste receptor cells that express gustducin, carbonic anhydrase 4, taste receptor type 1 member 3, nucleoside triphosphate diphosphohydrolase-2, or cytokeratin K8 were present in the taste organoids. Using calcium imaging assays, we found that cells grown out from taste organoids derived from isolated Lgr5 + cells were functional and responded to tastants in a dose-dependent manner. Genetic lineage tracing showed that Lgr6 + cells gave rise to taste bud cells in taste papillae in both anterior and posterior tongue. RT-PCR data demonstrated that Lgr5 and Lgr6 may mark the same subset of taste stem/progenitor cells both anteriorly and posteriorly. Together, our data demonstrate that functional taste cells can be generated ex vivo from single Lgr5 + or Lgr6 + cells, validating the use of this model for the study of taste cell generation. Lgr5 (leucine-rich repeat-containing G protein-coupled receptor 5), encoded by a Wnt (wingless-type MMTV integration site family) target gene, marks adult stem/progenitor cells in taste tissue in posterior tongue that in vivo give rise to all major types of taste bud cells, as well as perigemmal cells (6, 7). Lgr5 is also known to mark actively cycling stem cells in small intestine, colon, stomach, and hair follicle, as well as quiescent stem cells in liver, pancreas, and cochlea (8). Isolated Lgr5 + adult stem cells from multiple tissues are able to generate so-called organoid structures ex vivo (9-11). For instance, Sato and colleagues (10) developed a 3D culture system to grow crypt-villus organoids from single intestinal stem cells; all differentiated cell types were found in these structures, indicating the multipotent nature of these cells. We hypothesized that Lgr5 + taste stem/progenitor cells in a 3D culture system would be capable of expanding and giving rise to taste receptor cells ex vivo. In the present study, we isolated Lgr5 + stem/progenitor cells from taste tissue and cultured them in a 3D culture system. Single Lgr5 + cells grew into organoid structures ex vivo in defined culture conditions, with the presence of both proliferating cells and differentiated mature taste cells in which taste signaling components are functionally expressed. When organoids were replated onto a 2D sur...