A Glimpse Into the Molecular Entrails of Endoderm Formation
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Downloaded from genesdev.cshlp.org on September 26, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press REVIEW A glimpse into the molecular entrails of endoderm formation Didier Y.R. Stainier Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, Programs in Developmental Biology, Genetics, and Human Genetics, University of California, San Francisco, San Francisco, California 94143-0448, USA During organogenesis, the endoderm forms the epithelial some temporal distinction, I refer to cells as progenitors lining of the primitive gut tube from which the alimen- prior to the onset of gastrulation, and precursors during tary canal and associated organs, such as the liver and gastrulation stages. Finally, because the endoderm and pancreas, develop. Despite the physiological importance mesoderm often originate from the same, or adjacent, of these organs, our knowledge of the genes regulating regions of the embryo, a recurring theme of this review endoderm development has been limited. In the past few will be the analysis of how the embryo segregates these years, we have witnessed a rapid pace of discoveries re- two germ layers. garding the initial formation of this germ layer. Because the insights have come from studies in several model Endoderm formation in C. elegans systems, I have chosen to discuss endoderm formation not only in vertebrate model systems but also in Cae- The entire endoderm in C. elegans, that is, the 20 cells norhabditis elegans, Drosophila, sea urchins, and ascid- that constitute the intestine, originates from the E blas- ians. These studies reveal a high degree of conservation tomere at the 8-cell stage (Fig. 1A) (Sulston et al. 1983). E in some of the transcriptional regulators of endoderm itself is a daughter of EMS and the sister of MS, which differentiation, but seemingly more divergence in the in- gives rise to much of the mesoderm. Endoderm forma- tercellular signaling events leading to formation of this tion in C. elegans is under the control of a number of tissue. For example, transcription factors of the Gata and maternal proteins, including SKN-1, a bZIP/homeodo- Forkhead families are implicated in endoderm develop- main transcription factor that is required for both E and ment across the phyla. On the other hand, a role for MS development (Bowerman et al. 1992). SKN-1 directly TGF-, and more specifically Nodal, signaling, which is regulates the expression of two redundant GATA-type critical for endoderm formation in zebrafish, mouse, and transcription factor genes, med-1 and med-2, which like Xenopus, appears to be vertebrate specific. The studies skn-1 are necessary for EMS differentiation (Maduro et on vertebrate endoderm formation also suggest that we al. 2001). In addition, ectopic expression of either MED-1 have now gathered sufficient information to attempt to or MED-2 can induce mesendodermal differentiation in coax mammalian stem cells towards the endodermal lin- non-EMS cells (Maduro et al. 2001). eage. Downstream of MED-1 and MED-2, lie END-1 and END-3, another pair of redundant GATA factors. Losing both END-1 and END-3 results in the loss of endoderm Definition of the endoderm (Zhu et al. 1997). In fact, the ‘endodermal’ phenotype of these mutants is very similar to that seen in skn-1 and The endoderm is classically defined as the innermost med-1,2 mutants in that the E blastomere is converted to layer of the three Metazoan “germ layers” and as such it a C-like mesoectodermal progenitor. (The C blastomere, gives rise to the inner lining of the gut and its associated which is a daughter of P2, gives rise primarily to epider- organs. However, the term “endoderm” has also been mis and muscle.) Shortly after the time E is born and coopted for other developing structures such as some of end-1 and end-3 become activated, two additional the extraembryonic tissues in mammalian embryos. Un- GATA factors, ELT-2 and ELT-7 become expressed til the time when the nomenclature is adequately re- (Fukushige et al. 1998). Loss of ELT-2 alone leads to de- vised, the classically defined embryonic endoderm is of- generation of the gut, whereas loss of ELT-7 alone does ten referred to as “definitive endoderm” and these are not appear to have any phenotype. However, ELT-2 and the cells whose formation, or initial differentiation, I ELT-7 again appear to function redundantly in gut devel- will cover in this review. In addition and to establish opment as removal of both has a more profound effect on gut differentiation than removal of ELT-2 alone and ab- rogates transcription of many gut-specific genes. Ectopic E-MAIL [email protected]; FAX (415) 476-3892. Article and publication are at http://www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/ expression of any of these endoderm specific GATA fac- gad.974902. tors (END-1, END-3, ELT-2, or ELT-7) is sufficient to GENES & DEVELOPMENT 16:893–907 © 2002 by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press ISSN 0890-9369/02 $5.00; www.genesdev.org 893 Downloaded from genesdev.cshlp.org on September 26, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Stainier Figure 1. Early cell lineage of the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo and fate maps of the Drosophila, sea urchin, Xenopus, zebrafish and mouse embryos showing the position of the mesodermal (red) and endodermal (yellow) progenitors. (A)InC. elegans,the mesendodermal progenitor EMS divides to give rise to MS, the mesodermal progenitor, and E, the endodermal progenitor. Prior to this division, P2 sends EMS a Wnt signal (encoded by mom-2) which leads to a decrease in POP-1 function in E, allowing endoderm formation. (B)InDrosophila, endodermal tissues originate from the poles of the blastoderm embryo. Note that both the foregut and hindgut are thought to be ectodermal (blue). (C) In sea urchin, the mesoderm lies vegetal to the endoderm so that during gastrulation, the mesoderm invaginates first followed by the endoderm. By the end of gastrulation, the endoderm forms the archenteron or primitive gut. (D)InXenopus, as in ascidians, most of the endoderm derives from the most vegetal aspect of the late blastula stage embryo. The suprablastoporal endoderm is not shown in this simplified drawing. (E) In zebrafish, the endoderm lies close to the margin at the late blastula stage. Mesodermal and endodermal progenitors are interspersed in this region while further away from the margin only mesodermal progenitors are present. (F) In mouse figure adapted from Wells and Melton (1999), gastrulation begins when mesodermal and endodermal progenitors start migrating through the primitive streak. After passing through the streak, the endodermal precursors and some mesodermal precursors, including those that will give rise to the notochord, migrate along the midline in an anterior direction. Other populations of mesodermal cells migrate more laterally. (PGCs) Primordial germ cells; (An) animal pole; (Veg) vegetal pole; (A) anterior; (P) posterior. promote widespread gut formation throughout the em- is essential for differentiation of the five different cell bryo (Zhu et al. 1998; J. Rothman, pers. comm.). Yet types of the pharynx (Mango et al. 1994; Horner et al. another GATA factor, ELT-4, is expressed later in gut 1998), its role in gut differentiation is not known. The development, though its function is unknown (J. Mc- presence of GATA sites within its promoter suggests Ghee, pers. comm.). Thus a network of GATA factors that at least part of pha-4 expression is regulated by that act in redundant pairs functions to regulate endo- member(s) of the GATA network (Kalb et al. 1998). derm formation and gut development in C. elegans.In The segregation of mesoderm and endoderm, which fact, of the 11 GATA factors in C. elegans, seven are happens when EMS divides, is regulated by a Wnt signal involved in endoderm development. that originates from P2, a cell adjacent to EMS (Fig. 1A). In addition to these GATA factors, a large number of Mutations that lead to the transformation of E to MS other transcription factors are specifically expressed in (More of MS, MOM), or the transformation of MS to E the endoderm. These include a Forkhead-domain tran- (Posterior Pharynx Deleted, POP) have been identified scription factor, PHA-4, which is expressed throughout and found to encode components of convergent Wnt and the intestine (Azzaria et al. 1996; Horner et al. 1998; Kalb MAP kinase signaling cascades (for review, see Thorpe et et al. 1998) and at higher levels throughout the pharynx, al. 2000). These signals allow endoderm development to the anterior organ of the digestive tract. Although PHA-4 occur. For example, mom-2 encodes the Wnt protein 894 GENES & DEVELOPMENT Downloaded from genesdev.cshlp.org on September 26, 2021 - Published by Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press Endoderm formation necessary for endoderm formation (Thorpe et al. 1997), primordia suggesting that it regulates this process. In whereas pop-1 encodes a Tcf homolog that inhibits en- fact, analysis of fork head function in the secretory cells doderm formation (Lin et al. 1995). Additional compo- of the Drosophila salivary gland shows that it is required nents of this pathway include WRM-1, a -catenin ho- for constriction of the apical surface membrane (Myat molog necessary for endoderm formation (Rocheleau et and Andrew 2000), a process necessary for cell invagina- al. 1999), and MOM-4, a MAP3K also necessary for en- tion. Another gene expressed in the Drosophila midgut doderm formation (Meneghini et al. 1999; Shin et al. is hepatocyte nuclear factor 4 (HNF4), which encodes a 1999). A model of how this Wnt–MAPK signaling path- member of the steroid hormone receptor superfamily way integrates with the MED transcription factors to and, as its name indicates, has been associated with en- positively regulate the expression of the endoderm-speci- doderm development in vertebrates (Zhong et al.