A retinoic acid:YAP1 signaling axis controls atrial lineage commitment

Summary: In cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs), retinoic acid (RA) signaling induces atrial lineage gene expression and acquisition of an atrial cell fate. To achieve this, RA coordinates a complex regulatory network of downstream effectors that is not fully identified. To address this gap, we applied...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Elizabeth Abraham, Aleksandra Kostina, Brett Volmert, Thomas Roule, Ling Huang, Jingting Yu, April E. Williams, Emily Megill, Aidan Douglas, Olivia M. Pericak, Alex Morris, Eleonora Stronati, Arantza Larrinaga-Zamanillo, Raquel Fueyo, Mikel Zubillaga, Mark D. Andrake, Naiara Akizu, Aitor Aguirre, Conchi Estaras
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2025-05-01
Series:Cell Reports
Subjects:
Online Access:http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2211124725004589
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Summary: In cardiac progenitor cells (CPCs), retinoic acid (RA) signaling induces atrial lineage gene expression and acquisition of an atrial cell fate. To achieve this, RA coordinates a complex regulatory network of downstream effectors that is not fully identified. To address this gap, we applied a functional genomics approach (i.e., scRNA-seq and snATAC-seq) to untreated and RA-treated human embryonic stem cell (hESC)-derived CPCs. Unbiased analysis revealed that the Hippo effectors YAP1 and TEAD4 are integrated with the atrial transcription factor enhancer network and that YAP1 activates RA enhancers in CPCs. Furthermore, Yap1 deletion in mouse embryos compromises the expression of RA-induced genes, such as Nr2f2, in the CPCs of the second heart field. Accordingly, in hESC-derived patterned heart organoids, YAP1 regulates the formation of an atrial chamber but is dispensable for the formation of a ventricle. Overall, our findings revealed that YAP1 cooperates with RA signaling to induce atrial lineages during cardiogenesis.
ISSN:2211-1247