1 Department of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, 421
Curie Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6058, USA
2 Laboratory of Molecular Genetics, NICHD, NIH, 31 Center Drive, 9000 Rockville
Pike, Bethesda, MD 20892-2425, USA
3 Genome Technology Branch, NHGRI, NIH, 49 Convent Drive, 9000 Rockville Pike,
Bethesda, MD 20892-2152, USA
4 Division of Gastroenterology and Nutrition, Children's Hospital of
Philadelphia, 34th Street and Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104,
USA
5 Department of Cell and Developmental Biology, University of Pennsylvania
School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6058, USA
Author for correspondence (e-mail:
mpack{at}mail.med.upenn.edu)
Accepted 20 August 2004
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SUMMARY |
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Key words: Zebrafish, Notch, Jagged, Alagille Syndrome, Bile Duct, Biliary Development
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Introduction |
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Heritable defects of the intrahepatic biliary system are an important cause
of pediatric liver disease. These disorders arise from either developmental
defects or defects that injure cholangiocytes, the cells that comprise the
bile ducts (McKiernan, 2002).
Cholangiocyte injury may be immune mediated, or may arise from metabolic
defects that alter the composition of bile. Alagille Syndrome (AGS) is a
multisystem developmental disorder that affects the liver, heart and
craniofacium, but it can also impair the function of the kidney, pancreas,
nervous system and other organs (Piccoli
and Witzleben, 2000
). Liver disease in individuals with AGS arises
from a relative lack of bile ducts. Bile duct paucity reduces bile flow
(cholestasis) and can lead to liver fibrosis that requires liver
transplantation.
Haploinsufficiency for Jagged 1 has been shown to be responsible for the
majority of AGS cases (Li et al.,
1997; Oda et al.,
1997
; Piccoli and Spinner,
2001
; Spinner et al.,
2001
). Mice that are heterozygous carriers of a jagged 1
null allele and a hypomorphic notch 2 allele have liver, kidney and
cardiac defects resembling those seen in AGS
(McCright et al., 2002
). Mice
homozygous for the hypomorphic allele of notch 2 have liver, kidney,
heart and eye vasculature defects compatible with an AGS phenocopy
(McCright et al., 2001
;
McCright et al., 2002
). These
data reveal a conserved role for Notch signaling in the development of the
mammalian biliary system, heart, and other organs.
During mammalian organogenesis Notch signaling regulates cell fate
decisions through one of two principal mechanisms. In the nervous system,
Notch-mediated lateral inhibition defines neural precursors within a field of
equipotent progenitors (Lewis,
1998). During vascular development and in other settings, Notch
may function in an inductive manner
(Lawson et al., 2001
). How
Notch signaling regulates mammalian biliary development is not known.
Mammalian cholangiocytes and hepatocytes appear to develop from a common
precursor, the hepatoblast (reviewed by
Lemaigre, 2003
;
Rogler, 1997
;
Shiojiri, 1984
;
Shiojiri et al., 2001
).
Expression of jagged 1, and notch 2 and notch 3
genes within portal vein endothelia and mesenchyme, and adjacent hepatoblasts
is compatible with an inductive mechanism
(Loomes et al., 2002
;
Louis et al., 1999
;
McCright et al., 2002
). In
this model, hepatoblasts that receive the Notch signal form biliary epithelia.
Subsequently, these cells arrange to form tubules that remodel and become
incorporated into the portal tract as interlobular bile ducts, the principal
branch of the intrahepatic biliary tree (reviewed by
Lemaigre, 2003
).
The biliary system of lower vertebrates functions similarly to that of mammals. However, relatively little is known about the molecular regulation of biliary development in these organisms. Given the suitability of the zebrafish for genetic and embryological analyses, such studies may be relevant to human liver diseases. In this work, we identify a role for Notch signaling in zebrafish biliary development, and also show that the perturbation of Notch signaling produces kidney, craniofacial, cardiac and pancreatic defects compatible with an AGS phenocopy. Furthermore, we present data supporting a model in which the Notch signal promotes the development of biliary epithelial cells (cholangiocytes) from a bipotential precursor, the hepatoblast, as suggested by classical models. These data support the utility of the zebrafish as a model of human liver diseases, and identify conserved mechanisms that regulate development of the liver and other vertebrate organs.
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Materials and methods |
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Histology
Embryos, larvae and adult liver were fixed in 4% paraformaldehyde/2%
glutaraldehyde at 4°C overnight. Washed specimens were embedded in glycol
methacrylate (JB-4 Plus, Polysciences). Histological sections were prepared as
described (Pack et al.,
1996).
RNA in situ hybridization
Whole-mount RNA in situ hybridization was performed as previously described
(Pack et al., 1996).
Anti-sense probes were transcribed from cDNAs for zebrafish jagged 1,
jagged 2, jagged 3, notch 1a, notch 1b, notch 2 and notch 5.
Immunohistochemistry
Primary antibodies used were: mouse monoclonal anti-human cytokeratin 18
antibody (Ks 18.04), 1:500 (Maine Biotechnology Services), and rabbit
anti-bovine cytokeratin, 1:500 (suitable for wide spectrum screening; DAKO),
used interchangeably; rabbit anti-human mdr (P-glycoprotein, Ab-1), 1:200
(Oncogene), rabbit anti-mouse Bsep 90365, 1:500 (gift from Richard M. Green),
rabbit anti-human Mdr-1 (H-241) (Santa Cruz Biotechnology), rabbit anti-bovine
carboxypeptidase, 1:300 (Rockland). Secondary antibodies were: Alexa Fluor
488-conjugated goat anti-mouse IgG, Alexa Fluor 488-conjugated goat
anti-rabbit IgG, Alexa Fluor 568-conjugated goat anti-rabbit IgG (Molecular
Probes). All secondary antibodies were used at a 1:600 dilution.
Embryos, larvae and adult liver were fixed for two hours at room temperature in 4% paraformaldehyde for P-glycoprotein and Bsep antibody staining, or in 4:1 (v/v) methanol:DMSO for cytokeratin antibody staining. For P-glycoprotein and Bsep staining, embryos, larvae and adult liver were pre-treated with 0.1% collagenase (Sigma) in PBS for 35 minutes at room temperature. Incubation in primary antibody was overnight at 4°C. Secondary antibody incubations were for 4 hours at room temperature, or overnight at 4°C. Some immunostained specimens were processed for histology as described above. A Zeiss LSM 510 confocal microscope was used for all analyses.
Morpholino injections
Morpholinos (Gene Tools, LLC) were stored at a stock concentration of 2 mM
at 20°C. jagged 1 morpholino
(5'-cggtttgtctgtctgtgtgtctgtc-3') was injected at a 1:40 dilution
separately, and a 1:60 dilution in combination with other morpholinos.
jagged 2 (5'-tcctgatacaattccacatgccgcc-3'), jagged
3 (5'-ctgaactccgtcgcagaatcatgcc-3') (Kim and Chitnis,
unpublished), notch 1a (5'-gaaacggttcataactccgcctcgg-3'),
notch 1b (5'-ctctccccattcattctggttgtcg-3'), notch
2 (5'-aggtgaacacttacttcatgccaaa-3') and notch 5
(5'-atatccaaaggctgtaattccccat-3') morpholinos were injected at a
1:5 dilution separately, or a 1:10 dilution when combined. For notch
2, we used an exon-intron morpholino, for all other genes a morpholino
against the 5' end was injected. Injection of the notch 2
morpholino generated a novel transcript with a 56-bp insertion upstream of the
ankyrin repeat domain, at the end of exon 7 of the notch 2 gene. This
cDNA is predicted to generate a premature stop codon after the last exon 7
codon, thus deleting the entire ankyrin repeat domain.
In vitro translation
Jagged 1, 2 and 3 proteins were synthesized in the presence or absence of
morpholinos for jagged 1, 2 or 3, using TNT-coupled
reticulocyte lysates systems (Promega). CS2+ jagged 1, 2 and
3 plasmids purified by Qiagen Plasmid Midi kit (0.5 µg/reaction)
were used for the TNT reaction carried out at 30°C for 90 minutes in a
total volume of 20 µl. Sp6 RNA polymerase, trans-[35S]
methionine label (20 µC), was added to the TNT reactions. After the
translation reaction was complete, reaction mixtures were resolved on 4%-20%
SDS-polyacrylamide gels (Invitrogen). The dried gel was exposed to X-ray film
(Kodak).
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Results |
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Zebrafish liver architecture is comparable to this teleost model.
Histological sections of adult liver show dispersed vascular elements within a
field of seemingly unorganized hepatocytes
(Fig. 2A,B). As described for
other teleosts (Hinton and Couch,
1998), portal vein and hepatic vein branches are indistinguishable
from one another. In addition, the sinusoidal channels that connect these
venous radicles cannot be identified, and bile ducts are infrequently seen
beyond the liver hilum. These histological features are comparable to the
liver histology of other teleost fish and suggest that zebrafish hepatocytes
are also arranged in tubules encasing the biliary tract.
|
In mammals, bile is transported from the intrahepatic biliary system to the gallbladder and intestine through large extrahepatic ducts. Mammalian and zebrafish extrahepatic ductular systems are organized in a similar fashion (Fig. 3H). Bile exits the zebrafish liver through a prominent duct we term the common hepatic duct. The common hepatic duct joins the gallbladder via a duct that is comparable to the mammalian cystic duct. Distal to the zebrafish cystic duct, the duct we term the common bile duct carries bile to the intestine. The zebrafish common bile duct joins the intestine in close proximity to the pancreatic duct, as in mammals. This anatomical arrangement persists in juvenile and adult fish (not shown).
|
Development of the proximal and distal components of the biliary system was also determined. P-glycoprotein IHC and TEMs identified canaliculi within the liver of 70-hpf larvae (Fig. 3E,I). Analyses at subsequent stages revealed elaboration of the tubular canaliculi (Fig. 3F). The cytokeratin marker identified the gallbladder (not shown) and the common hepatic duct at 60 hpf (Fig. 3A), the stage when the smallest intrahepatic biliary radicles were revealed by cytokeratin IHC. Although the precise timepoint when the intrahepatic and extrahepatic systems were first contiguous could not be determined, analyses of histological sections and specimens processed for cytokeratin IHC show this conclusively at 75 hpf (Fig. 3G).
Zebrafish intrahepatic bile ducts develop independently of liver vasculature
Mammalian interlobular bile ducts develop from ductal plate hepatoblasts
adjacent to portal vein radicles. Although expression of Jagged ligands and
Notch receptors within ductal plate hepatoblasts and adjacent portal regions
has been reported (Loomes et al.,
2002; Louis et al.,
1999
; McCright et al.,
2002
), identification of the cells that supply the Notch signal is
uncertain. Portal tract endothelia and its surrounding mesenchyme are
considered to be likely candidates
(Shiojiri, 1984
;
Shiojiri and Koike, 1997
).
Because our histological studies suggested that zebrafish cholangiocytes do
not develop in close proximity to liver vasculature, we were curious about
whether endothelial cells played a role in zebrafish biliary development.
Analysis of the zebrafish mutant cloche, which lacks head and trunk
endothelium, as well as most blood cells
(Stainier et al., 1995;
Liao et al., 1997
), allowed us
to address this question. As shown in Fig.
4, bile ducts were identified in cloche larvae that could
be processed for cytokeratin IHC. Importantly, sinusoidal endothelia normally
present at this developmental stage could not be identified in these mutants.
From this, we conclude that the early stages of biliary development in
zebrafish occur independently of vascular endothelia.
|
Multiple zebrafish jagged (GenBank Accession numbers AF229448,
AF229449 and AF229451) and notch genes
(Bierkamp and Campos-Ortega,
1993; Itoh et al.,
2003
; Kortschak et al.,
2001
) have been identified. jagged 1, 2 and 3
are each expressed within the liver at 2 dpf (not shown) and 3 dpf
(Fig. 5A-C), the stage when
bile ducts form. Expression of jagged 2 was most pronounced.
notch 1a, notch 1b, notch 2 and notch 5 (also known as notch
3) are also expressed in the liver at these time points
(Fig. 5D-G). Histological
sections of specimens processed for whole-mount in situ hybridization showed
that the notch 2, 5 and jagged 2, 3 genes were expressed in
a uniform pattern within the liver primordium (not shown). These expression
patterns suggested that these notch orthologs might play a role in
zebrafish biliary development.
|
We initially assayed the effects of jagged gene knockdowns because
the majority of individuals with AGS are haploinsufficient for human Jagged 1
(Piccoli and Spinner, 2001).
We observed that high dose jagged 1 morphants had severe
developmental delays and extensive cell death, and that low dose jagged
1 morphants had subtle forebrain and midbrain defects, and small ears
(Fig. 6B). jagged 2
morphants appeared normal or occasionally had cardiac edema
(Fig. 6C). jagged 3
morphants had mild craniofacial abnormalities, smaller ears and, infrequently,
cardiac edema (Fig. 6D). Nearly
all jagged 2/3 morphants had craniofacial defects and
pericardial edema (Fig.
6E,G,H). Liver size was normal in nearly all morphants, as was
extrahepatic bile duct and gallbladder development
(Fig. 7I).
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Histological sections of the jagged 2/3 morphants processed for cytokeratin (Fig. 8D,E) and P-glycoprotein (Fig. 8F,I) IHC, and also ultrastructural analyses (Fig. 8G,H), showed that the cytokeratin (cholangiocyte) marker co-localized with microvilli and immunoreactive P-glycoprotein characteristic of the hepatocyte canaliculus. Consistent with a defect of biliary development, ductular cells were never seen within these hepatocyte rosettes. Co-localization of the cytokeratin and canalicular markers within jagged 2/3 morphant liver cells suggests these cells may be cholangiocyte-hepatocyte hybrids. Reduced P-glycoprotein staining in the morphant liver suggests that the hepatocyte differentiation program has been altered in many hybrid cells. Together, these findings suggest that Notch signaling regulates a binary cell fate decision in the developing zebrafish liver. Consistent with this early role for Notch signaling in cholangiocyte development, hepatocyte rosettes are already observed in jagged 2/3 morphant embryos at early stages of bile duct formation (74 hpf; not shown), whereas they are never seen in sibling wild-type larvae at this stage.
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Craniofacial alterations are common in individuals with AGS. One aspect of
the characteristic faces of AGS children (triangular face) involves the
alteration of facial bones that in part derive from the first and second
pharyngeal arch (maxilla and mandible). jagged 1 is also strongly
expressed at a similar location during mouse development
(Kamath et al., 2002a). We
observed that knockdown of zebrafish jagged genes altered the size of
facial cartilages that are derived from the first and second branchial arches
(palatoquadrate, Meckel's and ceratohyal cartilages;
Fig. 6F,H). Although a detailed
description of craniofacial defects in individuals with AGS has not been
reported, we considered the zebrafish craniofacial defects associated with
jagged knockdowns to be compatible with a partial AGS phenocopy.
The pancreas is also affected in individuals with AGS. Pancreatic
insufficiency is considered a clinical manifestation of AGS
(Chong et al., 1989;
Krantz et al., 1997
;
Emerick et al., 1999
). We
observed that pancreatic ductular development was altered in jagged
2/3 morphants and considered these changes compatible with an
AGS phenocopy, because they would severely impair exocrine function.
jagged 2/3 morphants had few intra-pancreatic ducts
(Fig. 9B,F,I), whereas the
extra-pancreatic duct that joins the pancreas to the intestine developed
normally. By contrast, morphant acini were enlarged but composed of cells that
had normal carboxypeptidase A levels (Fig.
9D,H) and a normal ultrastrucure (not shown). Interestingly,
apical cytokeratin was also identified in the acinar cells of the morphant
larvae (Fig. 9F,I). Although
the precise etiology of pancreatic insufficiency in individuals with AGS is
not known, ductal defects, such as those we observe and that also occur in
other heritable diseases, such as cystic fibrosis, could explain this
finding.
|
Tubular defects were also seen in all jagged 2/3
morphants. Proximal kidney tubules of all morphants were filled with amorphous
debris that is normally present in early stage wild-type embryos (see Fig.
S2D-F in supplementary material). Many tubules had an irregular contour and
were lined by dysmorphic epithelia. These findings are important because renal
tubular acidosis, which arises from kidney tubule defects, occurs in
individuals with AGS (Emerick et al.,
1999).
Finally, nearly all jagged 2/3 morphant larvae developed cardiac edema that was rescued by co-injection of human Jagged 1 mRNA (see Table S1 in supplementary material). Although cardiac edema in zebrafish larvae may be a non-specific finding, several lines of evidence suggest it may arise from a mild outflow tract defect in jagged 2/3 morphants. First, histological analysis did not reveal gross architectural defects of the endocardium, myocardium or cardiac valves of morphant larvae (not shown). Second, cardiac chamber size and orientation were also normal in the morphants. Third, the presence of cardiac edema did not correlate with the glomerular defects that may also be expected to cause edema; for example, we observed pronounced glomerular abnormalities in non-edematous larvae. Given that mild outflow tract defects are the most common cardiac abnormalities in individuals with AGS, and that these defects rarely cause severe cardiac dysfunction, we believe that cardiac edema in jagged morphants is compatible with an AGS phenocopy.
Multiple notch family members play a role in zebrafish intrahepatic biliary development
Although AGS can arise in the setting of haploinsufficiency for Jagged 1,
mice engineered to carry one copy of jagged 1 develop in a nearly
normal fashion (Xue et al.,
1999). However, biliary, cardiac and other defects suggestive of
AGS develop in mice homozygous for a hypomorphic allele of notch 2
(McCright et al., 2001
;
McCright et al., 2002
), and in
mice heterozygous for this notch 2 allele and a null allele of
jagged 1 (McCright et al.,
2002
). For these reasons, we analyzed the effect of zebrafish
notch receptor gene knockdowns both alone, and in combination with
various jagged ligands.
The notch 2/5 morphants were analyzed first because both genes are prominently expressed in the developing liver. Knockdowns of notch 2 alone did not affect biliary development (Fig. 10B). Knockdowns of notch 5 had a mild effect; hepatocyte rosettes were observed in a small number of notch 5 morphants (Fig. 10C). By contrast, combined notch 2/5 knockdowns had a prominent effect on biliary development. Hepatocyte rosettes were present in all morphant larvae (Fig. 10D). However, the severity of the biliary phenotype was less pronounced than that seen with combined jagged 2/3 knockdowns. Bile ducts were seen infrequently in jagged 2/3 morphants but were identifiable in all notch 2/5 morphants. These findings suggested that a third zebrafish Notch receptor might play a role in biliary development. For this reason, we also analyzed larvae that had been injected with morpholinos to notch 1a and notch 1b alone, and in combination with each other and the notch 2 and notch 5 morpholinos. In these experiments biliary development was either normal, or not interpretable because of severe developmental delays (not shown). Thus, a role for a third Notch receptor in zebrafish biliary development could not be confirmed.
|
Taken together, these data support a primary role for the notch 2 and notch 5 receptors in zebrafish biliary development. Our experiments could not exclude the possibility that signaling through another Notch family member may also play a minor role in biliary development. Alternatively, less severe biliary defects associated with compound Notch knockdowns may be explained by a reduced efficacy of the notch 2 and notch 5 morpholinos when compared with the jagged morpholinos. The finding that the jagged 3/notch 2 knockdown had no effect on biliary development compared with the jagged 2/notch 2 knockdown is consistent with the identification of jagged 2 as the principal Notch ligand directing biliary development.
Ectopic activation of the Notch signal promotes biliary development
The appearance of cells with the characteristics of hepatocytes and biliary
cells in the setting of reduced Notch activity suggests the Notch signal
normally regulates differentiation of a biliary progenitor cell.
Alternatively, Notch may be responsible for the maintenance of a more
differentiated progenitor in whose absence hepatocyte/biliary hybrid cells
emerge. With the former model, the activation of Notch signaling is predicted
to increase the number of biliary cells.
To test this hypothesis, we analyzed biliary development in larvae
expressing a heat shock-inducible hsp70:Gal4 transgene in combination
with a UAS:notch1aICD allele
(Scheer et al., 2002).
Following heat shock, transcription of the Gal4-responsive, constitutively
active notch1aICD allele ensues. For these experiments, Notch
signaling was activated in transgenic fish and non-transgenic clutch mates via
heat shock (40°Cx30 minutes) at 12 hour intervals beginning at 48
hpf. Heat-shocked larvae were processed for cytokeratin IHC 12 hours after the
final heat shock.
Following this protocol, we analyzed 72-hpf larvae that had been heat-shocked at 48 hpf and 60 hpf, 84-hpf larvae heat-shocked at 60 hpf and 72 hpf, and 96-hpf larvae heat-shocked at 72 hpf and 84 hpf. Cytokeratin IHC showed enlarged, ectopic biliary ducts in all heat-shocked larvae carrying the notch1aICD and GAL4 transgenes. These ectopic ducts were best appreciated in 96-hpf larvae (Fig. 10H,I), but were also identifiable at earlier timepoints (see Fig. S3 in supplementary material). Immunostaining of heat-shocked larvae with the P-glycoprotein antibody showed that the canaliculi were also enlarged (see Fig. S4 in supplementary material). Histological analyses of heat-shocked transgenic larvae allowed us to quantitate the effects of Notch activation (not shown). This showed a 40% increase in the number of small biliary ducts in 96-hpf heat-shocked transgenic larvae, when compared with heat-shocked fish lacking the UAS:notch1aICD transgene (n=49 transgenic ducts per field, range 44-55; versus n=35 wild-type ducts per field, range 28-41).
The reciprocal effects of Notch inhibition and activation on biliary development, coupled with the presence of hybrid cells in jagged and jagged/notch morphant larvae, are supportive of a model in which the Notch signal promotes the development of biliary cells from a bipotential progenitor.
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Discussion |
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Current models of AGS suggest that haploinsufficiency for Jagged 1 is
responsible for AGS, although a dominant-negative mode of inheritance for some
Jagged 1 mutations has not been fully excluded
(Piccoli and Spinner, 2001).
Studies in the mouse support a haploinsufficiency model. Homozygous jagged
1 mutant mice die from widespread hemorrhage at early stages
(Xue et al., 1999
). However,
heterozygous jagged 1 mutant mice develop mild ocular defects
suggestive of AGS, and compound mutant mice that are heterozygous for a
deletion allele of jagged 1 and a hypomorphic allele of notch
2 develop cardiac and biliary defects typical of AGS
(McCright et al., 2002
).
Furthermore, mice homozygous for a hypomorphic notch 2 allele lack
intrahepatic bile ducts and have cardiac and kidney defects consistent with an
AGS phenocopy (McCright et al.,
2001
; McCright et al.,
2002
), whereas mice homozygous for a null allele of notch
2 die at early stages (Hamada et al.,
1999
). Together, these data suggest a conserved role for Notch
signaling in mammalian biliary, heart, kidney and ocular development that is
sensitive to gene dosage (McCright et al.,
2002
).
Perturbation of Jagged-mediated Notch signaling in zebrafish identifies an evolutionarily conserved pathway that directs bile duct development
Knockdowns of zebrafish jagged genes, alone or in combination with
notch genes, perturb zebrafish biliary, pancreatic, cardiac, kidney
and craniofacial development. We believe such defects are compatible with an
AGS phenocopy. In this report, we have focused principally on the role of
Notch signaling in zebrafish bile duct formation. Bile duct paucity on liver
biopsy is a nearly universal feature of Alagille patients with liver disease.
It is present in some individuals with AGS at birth, but develops in the
majority of cases within 6 months (Piccoli
and Witzleben, 2001). Thus, many individuals with AGS are born
with a significant number of intrahepatic bile ducts that are either lost or
do not expand during the first months of postnatal life, as a result of
reduced Notch signaling. Whether Notch-mediated biliary expansion involved
proliferation of existing ducts or the recruitment of new biliary cells
(cholangiocytes) is not known.
Phenocopy of AGS in zebrafish using morpholino-mediated knockdown may be predicted to be difficult because precise titration of the jagged gene levels is not feasible. However, we observed that jagged 2 morphants have mild to moderate intrahepatic biliary defects, but that compound jagged 2/3 knockdown profoundly disrupted biliary development. Importantly, these defects occur in the setting of continued liver growth and differentiation. Liver size is near normal and sinusoidal vascularization is evident in the most severely affected jagged 2 and jagged 2/3 morphants. Together, these data confirm a role for Jagged-mediated Notch signaling in zebrafish biliary development.
Although our data do not allow us to speculate on whether Notch signaling promotes biliary development through lateral inhibition, induction or some other mechanism, the presence of ectopic biliary ducts in transgenic larvae engineered to express a constitutively active notch1a allele suggests that spatial restriction of some component of the Notch signaling system is important to this process. The presence of ectopic ducts that branch prematurely in Notch-activated larvae supports the idea that the Notch signal promotes biliary development. Whether this effect of Notch activation occurs through the recruitment of new biliary cells or through the growth of existing ducts could not be addressed in this study.
The finding of ectopic ducts in Notch-activated transgenic larvae is
important because it does not support a suppressive role for Notch during
biliary development. Such a role has been proposed for Notch signaling during
mammalian pancreas development (Norgaard
et al., 2003). In this model, the Notch signal normally regulates
the proliferation and maintenance of undifferentiated pancreatic progenitor
cells. Enhanced and premature ductal branching following Notch activation is,
in our opinion, more consistent with a model in which Notch directly promotes
biliary development rather than maintaining undifferentiated liver
progenitors.
Perturbation of Notch signaling in zebrafish causes multi-organ defects compatible with an AGS phenocopy
In addition to the aforementioned biliary defects, we identified other
phenotypic features of jagged and jagged/notch
morphants that we believe are compatible with an AGS phenocopy (see Table S2
in supplementary material). First, the jagged 2/3, notch
2/5 and compound jagged 2/notch morphants had
intra-pancreatic ductal defects. Such defects would be predicted to lead to
exocrine pancreatic insufficiency, which is recognized as a clinical
manifestation of AGS. Although the pathophysiology of exocrine insufficiency
in AGS is not well characterized, our data point to a role for a ductal
defect. Reports of pancreatic cysts and fibrosis in individuals with AGS are
also compatible with this hypothesis (D. Piccoli, personal communication).
Further, given that only a small amount of functional exocrine tissue is
required to avert symptomatic exocrine insufficiency
(Pandol, 1998), it is not
surprising that this is not a more common presenting feature of AGS.
Interestingly, exocrine pancreas and biliary defects associated with
perturbation of Jagged-mediated Notch signaling were remarkably similar. This
may be expected given that the teleost liver and exocrine pancreas share a
similar acinar architecture. Particularly intriguing was the observation that
immunoreactive cytokeratin, a ductular marker, accumulated in the apical pole
of morphant pancreatic acinar cells. This suggests that Jagged-mediated Notch
signaling may also regulate a binary cell fate decision during parenchymal
ductular development in both the liver and the pancreas. Whether
Delta-mediated Notch signaling, which disrupts mammalian pancreas development
at an early stage (Apelqvist et al.,
1999), plays a comparable role in early pancreas development in
zebrafish was not addressed by our studies.
Kidney defects are common in individuals with AGS. In one series of AGS
patients, small kidney size was the most commonly reported structural defect,
whereas renal tubular acidosis, which arises from a defect of tubular cells,
was the most common functional defect
(Emerick et al., 1999).
Glomerular abnormalities in AGS patients with renal failure were also
reported. The kidney defects we identified in jagged 2/3
morphant larvae resemble these defects and the kidney defects reported in
mouse models of AGS (McCright et al.,
2001
).
Craniofacial defects were another feature of the jagged and
jagged/notch morphants that we feel is compatible with an
AGS phenocopy. The reduced size of cartilage derived from the first pharyngeal
arch is reminiscent of the alterations of the appearance of the mandible and
maxillary bones typical of young AGS patients. Presumptive cardiac defects
were also seen in the morphants. Although we have not determined a precise
etiology for these defects, its relatively late onset, coupled with the
absence of overt myocardial or valvular defects in morphant larvae, suggests
that outflow tract defects may be likely culprits. Such defects are commonly
seen in individuals with AGS (McElhinney
et al., 2002). Interestingly, we did not see valvular defects
comparable to those reported to occur in zebrafish embryos treated with a
pharmacological inhibitor of Notch receptor processing
(Timmerman et al., 2004
).
Taken with our data, this raises the possibility that cardiac valve
development in zebrafish is not driven by Jagged-mediated Notch signaling.
Alternatively, disruption of cardiac valve formation in zebrafish may require
a greater reduction in the dosage of the Notch signal than in other organs.
This contrasts with a recent report describing one Jagged 1 mutation that
suggests that the developing human heart may be more sensitive to the dosage
of Notch signaling than the developing liver
(Lu et al., 2003
).
One limitation to this study was our inability to quantitate the effectiveness of the various knockdowns. These limitations notwithstanding, we are confident of the specificity of the jagged and notch knockdowns for several reasons. All morpholinos performed as predicted in in vitro translation assays. Additionally, internal controls were present for all experiments. For example, only the jagged 2 and notch 5 morpholinos perturbed bile duct development when injected on their own. Thus, this effect cannot be considered a non-specific effect of the morpholino injections. Activity of the jagged 1 and jagged 3, and various notch morpholinos, that when injected alone had no effect on bile duct development was confirmed by their effects on other organs, or by their modifying effect on jagged 2.
Redundancy of jagged and notch gene function during zebrafish biliary development
Direct phenotypic comparisons of zebrafish jagged, notch or
jagged/notch morphants with mouse mutants or individuals
with AGS is complicated by the existence of a third jagged gene
within the teleost genome. This is likely to have arisen from a genome-wide
duplication that occurred after divergence of the teleost and mammalian
vertebrate lineages (Taylor et al.,
2003). Partial redundancy of duplicated zebrafish jagged
gene function is compatible with overlapping jagged gene expression
patterns at early developmental time points and may explain several aspects of
the zebrafish jagged morphant phenotypes. Such models of
organ-specific gene compensation are compatible with the function of other
zebrafish gene families (Dorsky et al.,
2003
; Henry et al.,
2002
; Lekven et al.,
2003
).
Sequence comparisons and conserved gene synteny predict that zebrafish jagged 3 is the teleost ortholog of mammalian Jagged 1 (see Fig. S4 in supplementary material). However, functional analyses point to zebrafish jagged 2 as the principal regulator of intrahepatic biliary development, whereas jagged 3 plays a predominant role in craniofacial and ear development. The limited predictive value of protein sequence for identifying zebrafish orthologs of closely related mammalian Gata genes has been noted previously (Wallace et al., 2003). Within the zebrafish jagged gene family, functional differences may be predicted to arise from differences in the timing, location or levels of gene expression within the developing liver. Our RNA in situ studies appear to support the latter possibility. jagged 2 expression is most pronounced in the liver, whereas jagged 3 expression is higher in the branchial arches and the ear. Surprisingly, our studies did not identify a role for jagged 1 in biliary development, despite its prominent liver expression. Whether jagged 1 plays another, as yet unrecognized role in liver development cannot be excluded.
Multiple notch genes are also expressed within the embryonic zebrafish liver and our data suggest that their functions also overlap during biliary development. We examined the role of notch 2 first because of its defined role in mouse biliary development. We observed that perturbation of zebrafish notch 2 had little effect on biliary development, whereas knockdown of notch 5, which shares greater sequence similarity with mammalian notch 3 than with zebrafish notch 2, produced mild biliary defects. These findings suggested that notch 5 may play a principal role during biliary development. Alternatively, these findings may arise from a reduced efficacy of the notch 2 morpholino, which is directed against an exon-intron splice junction, when compared with the notch 5 morpholino, which is directed against the 5' region of the notch 5 gene.
Conserved aspects of vertebrate biliary development
Defects of biliary, pancreas, cardiac and craniofacial development in
zebrafish jagged and jagged/notch morphants point
to an evolutionarily conserved role for Notch signaling during vertebrate
organogenesis. Data from this study identify several other shared features of
teleost and mammalian biliary development.
First, the redundancy of jagged and notch gene function
during zebrafish biliary development is compatible with data that point to the
importance of the dosage of the Notch signal for biliary development. In
humans, AGS arises in the setting of Jagged 1 haploinsufficiency. Similarly,
we found that zebrafish biliary development was sensitive to the degree of
jagged 2 knockdown. Surprisingly, haploinsufficiency for jagged
1 does not produce an AGS phenocopy in mice. However, mice heterozygous
for mutant alleles of jagged 1 and notch 2 have cardiac,
liver and kidney defects. This non-allelic non-complementation of mutant
jagged 1 and notch 2 alleles has been attributed to either
gene dosage or poison models (McCright et
al., 2002). The latter posits that in compound mutants, one of the
affected gene loci encodes an altered protein that impairs the function of the
protein product of the other locus. The study of McCright (McCright, 2002)
could not distinguish between these two mechanisms. Our data indicate a role
for gene dosage. Although the notch 2 morpholino used for this study
produces altered notch 2 transcripts (see Materials and methods), and
therefore may be interfering with jagged 2 function through a poison
interaction with the zebrafish jagged 2 ligand, the notch 5
morpholino, which overlaps the 5' ATG of the notch 5
transcript, should not produce an altered gene product. For this reason, we
believe reduced gene dosage best accounts for altered biliary development in
compound jagged/notch morphants.
A second aspect of biliary development that may have been revealed by our
study concerns the identity of the cell supplying the Notch signal. Although
this must be considered to be speculative at this time, we believe our data
are consistent with mammalian tissue recombination experiments that suggest
that mesenchymal cells signal hepatoblasts to adopt a biliary fate
(Shiojiri and Koike, 1997).
Supporting this hypothesis, we identified a normal pattern of bile ducts in
cloche mutants that lack endothelial cells but retain mesenchymal
cells that express smooth muscle markers adjacent to developing biliary cells
(K.L. and M.P., unpublished). Confirmation of a role for such cells awaits the
development of reagents to localize Jagged and Notch proteins in the
developing liver.
Finally, results for this study point to a relationship between Notch
signaling and other transcriptional regulators of vertebrate biliary
development. Studies in the zebrafish
(Matthews et al., 2004) and
the mouse (Clotmann et al., 2002; Connifer et al., 2002) have shown that the
hnf6 and hnf1b genes regulate intrahepatic biliary
development as part of a common genetic pathway. Here, we show that
hnf6 gene transcription is reduced 50% in jagged
2/3 morphants, when compared with controls. This suggests that
hnf6-mediated signaling functions downstream of the Notch signal.
However, injection of hnf6 mRNA does not rescue Notch-deficient
morphant larvae. We propose that this is because hnf6 regulates
biliary progenitors whose development is dependent upon the Notch signal.
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Note added in proof |
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS |
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Footnotes |
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Supplementary material for this article is available at http://dev.biologists.org/cgi/content/full/131/22/5753/DC1
* Present address: Department of Molecular Biology, University of the
Ryukyus, Faculty of Medicine, Okinawa 903-0215, Japan
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