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Updated: Jul 9, 2025
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Temporal Ordering of Dynamic Expression Data from Detailed Spatial Expression Maps
Published on: February 9, 2017
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SMPD3 expression is spatially regulated in the developing embryo by SOXE factors
Michael L Piacentino1, Aria J Fasse2, Alexis Camacho-Avila2
1Division of Biology and Biological Engineering, California Institute of Technology, Pasadena, CA, 91125, USA; Department of Cell Biology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, 21205, USA.
Developmental Biology
|December 5, 2023
Summary
Researchers identified key gene regulatory elements controlling SMPD3 expression during neural crest cell epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). SOX10 directly regulates an enhancer crucial for migrating neural crest cells, impacting lipid metabolism.
Area of Science:
- Developmental Biology
- Molecular Biology
- Cell Biology
Background:
- Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) involves significant plasma membrane changes crucial for cell motility.
- Neural crest cells undergo EMT, requiring precise regulation of lipid content for developmental processes.
Purpose of the Study:
- To identify transcriptional regulators of lipid metabolism during neural crest cell EMT.
- To uncover enhancer sequences controlling SMPD3 gene expression in neural crest cells.
Main Methods:
- Reporter assays to identify functional enhancer regions within the SMPD3 locus.
- Mutagenesis and knockdown experiments to investigate transcriptional regulation.
- Chromatin immunoprecipitation sequencing (ChIP-seq) to determine direct transcription factor binding.
Main Results:
- Three enhancer regions in the SMPD3 first intron recapitulate endogenous expression patterns.
- SOXE-family transcription factors SOX9 and SOX10 regulate SMPD3 expression in migrating neural crest cells.
- SOX10 directly binds to and regulates an enhancer specific to migratory neural crest cells.
Conclusions:
- SOX10 is a direct regulator of SMPD3 expression in migrating neural crest cells.
- This study elucidates the interplay between developmental gene regulatory networks and metabolic genes during EMT.
- Findings provide insight into the transcriptional control of membrane lipid content during development.
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