Endothelial Cyp26b1 restrains murine heart valve growth during development.

Endothelial cells (ECs) are critical to proper heart valve development, directly contributing to the mesenchyme of the cardiac cushions, which progressively transform into mature valves. To date, investigators have lacked sufficient markers of valve ECs to evaluate their contributions during valve morphogenesis fully. As a result, it has been unclear whether the well-characterized regional differentiation of valves correlates with any endothelial domains in the heart. Furthermore, it has been difficult to ascertain whether endothelial heterogeneity in the heart influences underlying mesenchymal zones in an angiocrine manner. To identify regionally expressed EC genes in the heart valves, we screened publicly available databases and assembled a toolkit of endothelial-enriched genes. We identified Cyp26b1 as one of many endothelial enriched genes found to be expressed in the endocardium of the developing cushions and valves. Here, we show that Cyp26b1 is required for normal heart valve development. Genetic ablation of Cyp26b1 in mouse embryos leads to abnormally thickened aortic valve leaflets, which is due in part to increased endothelial and mesenchymal cell proliferation in the remodeling valves. In addition, Cyp26b1 mutant hearts display ventricular septal defects (VSDs) in a portion of null embryos. We show that loss of Cyp26b1 results in upregulation of retinoic acid (RA) target genes, supporting the observation that Cyp26b1 has RA-dependent roles. Together, this work identifies a novel role for Cyp26b1 in heart valve morphogenesis and points to a role of RA in this process. Understanding the spatiotemporal expression dynamics of cardiac EC genes will pave the way for investigation of both normal and dysfunctional heart valve development.

Vascular deficiencies in renal organoids and ex vivo kidney organogenesis.

Chronic kidney disease (CKD) and end stage renal disease (ESRD) are increasingly frequent and devastating conditions that have driven a surge in the need for kidney transplantation. A stark shortage of organs has fueled interest in generating viable replacement tissues ex vivo for transplantation. One promising approach has been self-organizing organoids, which mimic developmental processes and yield multicellular, organ-specific tissues. However, a recognized roadblock to this approach is that many organoid cell types fail to acquire full maturity and function. Here, we comprehensively assess the vasculature in two distinct kidney organoid models as well as in explanted embryonic kidneys. Using a variety of methods, we show that while organoids can develop a wide range of kidney cell types, as previously shown, endothelial cells (ECs) initially arise but then rapidly regress over time in culture. Vasculature of cultured embryonic kidneys exhibit similar regression. By contrast, engraftment of kidney organoids under the kidney capsule results in the formation of a stable, perfused vasculature that integrates into the organoid. This work demonstrates that kidney organoids offer a promising model system to define the complexities of vascular-nephron interactions, but the establishment and maintenance of a vascular network present unique challenges when grown ex vivo.

Rbm8a deficiency causes hematopoietic defects by modulating Wnt/PCP signaling.

Defects in blood development frequently occur among syndromic congenital anomalies. Thrombocytopenia-Absent Radius (TAR) syndrome is a rare congenital condition with reduced platelets (hypomegakaryocytic thrombocytopenia) and forelimb anomalies, concurrent with more variable heart and kidney defects. TAR syndrome associates with hypomorphic gene function for RBM8A/Y14 that encodes a component of the exon junction complex involved in mRNA splicing, transport, and nonsense-mediated decay. How perturbing a general mRNA-processing factor causes the selective TAR Syndrome phenotypes remains unknown. Here, we connect zebrafish rbm8a perturbation to early hematopoietic defects via attenuated non-canonical Wnt/Planar Cell Polarity (PCP) signaling that controls developmental cell re-arrangements. In hypomorphic rbm8a zebrafish, we observe a significant reduction of cd41-positive thrombocytes. rbm8a-mutant zebrafish embryos accumulate mRNAs with individual retained introns, a hallmark of defective nonsense-mediated decay; affected mRNAs include transcripts for non-canonical Wnt/PCP pathway components. We establish that rbm8a-mutant embryos show convergent extension defects and that reduced rbm8a function interacts with perturbations in non-canonical Wnt/PCP pathway genes wnt5b, wnt11f2, fzd7a, and vangl2. Using live-imaging, we found reduced rbm8a function impairs the architecture of the lateral plate mesoderm (LPM) that forms hematopoietic, cardiovascular, kidney, and forelimb skeleton progenitors as affected in TAR Syndrome. Both mutants for rbm8a and for the PCP gene vangl2 feature impaired expression of early hematopoietic/endothelial genes including runx1 and the megakaryocyte regulator gfi1aa. Together, our data propose aberrant LPM patterning and hematopoietic defects as consequence of attenuated non-canonical Wnt/PCP signaling upon reduced rbm8a function. These results also link TAR Syndrome to a potential LPM origin and a developmental mechanism.