Secreted signals, known as morphogens, provide the positional information that organizes gene expression and cellular differentiation in many developing tissues. In the vertebrate neural tube, Sonic Hedgehog (Shh) acts as a morphogen to control the pattern of neuronal subtype specification. Using an in vivo reporter of Shh signaling, mouse genetics, and systems modeling, we show that a spatially and temporally changing gradient of Shh signaling is interpreted by the regulatory logic of a downstream transcriptional network. The design of the network, which links three transcription factors to Shh signaling, is responsible for differential spatial and temporal gene expression. In addition, the network renders cells insensitive to fluctuations in signaling and confers hysteresis--memory of the signal. Our findings reveal that morphogen interpretation is an emergent property of the architecture of a transcriptional network that provides robustness and reliability to tissue patterning.

We report directed differentiaion of retinal precursors in vitro from mouse ES cells. Six3 ⁺ rostral brain progenitors are generated by culturing ES cells under serum-free suspension conditions (SFEB culture) in the presence of Wnt and Nodal antagonists (Dkk1 and LeftyA), and subsequently steered to differentiate into Rx ⁺ cells (16%) by treatment with activin and serum. Consistent with the characteristics of early neural retinal precursors, the induced Rx ⁺ cells coexpress Pax6 and the mitotic marker Ki67, but not Nestin. The ES cell-derived precursors efficiently generate cells with the photoreceptor phenotype (rhodopsin ⁺ , recoverin ⁺ ) when cocultured with embryonic retinal cells. Furthermore, organotypic culture studies demonstrate the selective integration and survival of ES cell-derived cells with the photoreceptor phenotype (marker expression and morphology) in the outer nuclear layer of the retina. Taken together, ES cells treated with SFEB/Dkk1/LeftyA/serum/activin generate neural retinal precursors, which have the competence of photoreceptor differentiation.

Morphogens are secreted signalling molecules that act in a graded manner to control the pattern of cellular differentiation in developing tissues. An example is Sonic hedgehog (Shh), which acts in several developing vertebrate tissues, including the central nervous system, to provide positional information during embryonic patterning. Here we address how Shh signalling assigns the positional identities of distinct neuronal subtype progenitors throughout the ventral neural tube. Assays of intracellular signal transduction and gene expression indicate that the duration as well as level of signalling is critical for morphogen interpretation. Progenitors of the ventral neuronal subtypes are established sequentially, with progressively more ventral identities requiring correspondingly higher levels and longer periods of Shh signalling. Moreover, cells remain sensitive to changes in Shh signalling for an extended time, reverting to antecedent identities if signalling levels fall below a threshold. Thus, the duration of signalling is important not only for the assignment but also for the refinement and maintenance of positional identity. Together the data suggest a dynamic model for ventral neural tube patterning in which positional information corresponds to the time integral of Shh signalling. This suggests an alternative to conventional models of morphogen action that rely solely on the level of signalling. In many developing tissues, the pattern in which cell types are generated depends on secreted factors called morphogens. These signalling molecules are produced in specific locations and at specific concentrations, thereby forming concentration gradients. Different target genes are induced at specific distances from the source of the morphogen, and therefore the spatial pattern of gene expression correlates with this concentration gradient. In this study, we examined how cells respond to a morphogen gradient to produce the appropriate pattern of cellular differentiation. We focused on the morphogen Sonic Hedgehog (Shh), which specifies the pattern of different types of neurons in the ventral regions of the neural tube (the embryo's precursor to the central nervous system). We show that in addition to the concentration of Shh, the duration of Shh signalling also contributes to the patterning of the ventral neural tube. A consequence of this is that the genes defining different cellular identities are expressed in a characteristic temporal progression. In addition, sustained Shh signalling is required for more ventral cell types; otherwise they revert to their previous cellular identity. Together these results indicate that dynamic and sustained signalling by Shh is required for the patterning of the ventral neural tube, challenging conventional models of morphogen action that rely solely on the concentration of signal perceived by cells at specific positions in the morphogen gradient.

A number of regulatory genes have been implicated in neural crest development. However, the molecular mechanism of how neural crest determination is initiated in the exact ectodermal location still remains elusive. Here, we show that the cooperative function of Pax3 and Zic1 determines the neural crest fate in the amphibian ectoderm. Pax3 and Zic1 are expressed in an overlapping manner in the presumptive neural crest area of the Xenopus gastrula, even prior to the onset of the expression of the early bona fide neural crest marker genes Foxd3 and Slug. Misexpression of both Pax3 and Zic1 together efficiently induces ectopic neural crest differentiation in the ventral ectoderm, whereas overexpression of either one of them only expands the expression of neural crest markers within the dorsolateral ectoderm. The induction of neural crest differentiation by Pax3 and Zic1 requires Wnt signaling. Loss-of-function studies in vivo and in the animal cap show that co-presence of Pax3 and Zic1 is essential for the initiation of neural crest differentiation. Thus, co-activation of Pax3 and Zic1, in concert with Wnt, plays a decisive role for early neural crest determination in the correct place of the Xenopus ectoderm.

Hedgehog (Hh) signaling regulates embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis through the GPCR-like protein Smoothened (Smo), but how vertebrate Smo is activated remains poorly understood. In Drosophila, Hh dependent phosphorylation activates Smo. Whether this is also the case in vertebrates is unclear, owing to the marked sequence divergence between vertebrate and Drosophila Smo (dSmo) and the involvement of primary cilia in vertebrate Hh signaling. Here we demonstrate that mammalian Smo (mSmo) is activated through multi-site phosphorylation of its carboxyl-terminal tail by CK1α and GRK2. Phosphorylation of mSmo induces its active conformation and simultaneously promotes its ciliary accumulation. We demonstrate that graded Hh signals induce increasing levels of mSmo phosphorylation that fine-tune its ciliary localization, conformation, and activity. We show that mSmo phosphorylation is induced by its agonists and oncogenic mutations but is blocked by its antagonist cyclopamine, and efficient mSmo phosphorylation depends on the kinesin-II ciliary motor. Furthermore, we provide evidence that Hh signaling recruits CK1α to initiate mSmo phosphorylation, and phosphorylation further increases the binding of CK1α and GRK2 to mSmo, forming a positive feedback loop that amplifies and/or sustains mSmo phosphorylation. Hence, despite divergence in their primary sequences and their subcellular trafficking, mSmo and dSmo employ analogous mechanisms for their activation. Hedgehog (Hh) signaling governs embryonic development and adult homeostasis in species ranging from Drosophila to human, and its malfunction has been implicated in a wide range of human disorders. Hh signal is received by the twelve-transmembrane receptor Patched and transmitted intracellularly by the seven-transmembrane protein Smoothened (Smo). How vertebrate Smo is activated in order to transmit the Hh signal remains poorly understood. Here we investigate the molecular mechanism of mammalian Smo (mSmo) activation and find it is similar to that described for Drosophila Smo despite the marked sequence divergence between them. We show that mSmo is activated via phosphorylation at multiple sites by the serine/threonine kinases CK1α and GRK2. We provide evidence that Sonic hedgehog (Shh; the best studied of the three mammalian pathway ligands) can regulate the accessibility of mSmo to these kinases and that phosphorylation promotes the ciliary accumulation of this transmembrane protein in its active conformation. Moreover, increasing concentrations of Shh induce a progressive increase in mSmo phosphorylation that fine-tunes mSmo activity. Thus, our results provide novel insights into the biochemical mechanism of vertebrate Hh signal transduction and reveal a conserved mode of Smo activation.

Fox factors (winged-helix transcription factors) play important roles in early embryonic patterning. We show here that FoxD3 (Forkhead 6) regulates neural crest determination in Xenopus embryos. Expression of FoxD3 in the presumptive neural crest region starts at the late gastrula stage in a manner similar to that of Slug, and overlaps with that of Zic-r1. When overexpressed in the embryo and in ectodermal explants, FoxD3 induces expression of neural crest markers. Attenuation of FoxD3-related signaling by a dominant-negative FoxD3 construct (FoxD3delN) inhibits neural crest differentiation in vivo without suppressing the CNS marker Sox2. Interestingly, these loss-of-function phenotypes are reversed by coinjecting Slug. In animal cap explants, neural crest differentiation induced by Slug and Wnt3a is also inhibited by FoxD3delN but not by a dominant-negative form of XBF2. Loss-of-function studies using dominant-negative forms of FoxD3 and Slug indicate that Slug induction by Zic factors requires FoxD3-related signaling, and that FoxD3 and Slug have different requirements in inducing downstream neural crest markers. These data demonstrate that FoxD3 (or its closely related factor) is an essential upstream regulator of neural crest determination.