YAP/TAZ-Dependent Reprogramming of Colonic Epithelium Links ECM Remodeling to Tissue Regeneration.

Tissue regeneration requires dynamic cellular adaptation to the wound environment. It is currently unclear how this is orchestrated at the cellular level and how cell fate is affected by severe tissue damage. Here we dissect cell fate transitions during colonic regeneration in a mouse dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) colitis model, and we demonstrate that the epithelium is transiently reprogrammed into a primitive state. This is characterized by de novo expression of fetal markers as well as suppression of markers for adult stem and differentiated cells. The fate change is orchestrated by remodeling the extracellular matrix (ECM), increased FAK/Src signaling, and ultimately YAP/TAZ activation. In a defined cell culture system recapitulating the extracellular matrix remodeling observed in vivo, we show that a collagen 3D matrix supplemented with Wnt ligands is sufficient to sustain endogenous YAP/TAZ and induce conversion of cell fate. This provides a simple model for tissue regeneration, implicating cellular reprogramming as an essential element.This work was supported by Worldwide Cancer Research (13-1216 to KBJ), Lundbeck Foundation (R105-A9755 to KBJ), the Danish Cancer Society (R56-A2907 and R124-A7724 to KBJ), the Carlsberg Foundation (to KBJ), EMBO Young Investigator programme (to KBJ), AIRC Special Program Molecular Clinical Oncology ‘‘5 per mille’’ (to SP), an AIRC PI-Grant (to SP), Epigenetics Flagship projects (CNR-Miur grants. to SP), the DFF mobilix programme (to SY), Marie Curie fellowship programme (SY and JG), Foundation of Aase and Ejnar Danielsen (OHN), Axel Muusfeldts Foundation (OHN), The Ragnar Söderberg Foundation (CDM). This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (grant agreements STEMHEALTH ERCCoG682665 and INTENS 668294 to KBJ and DENOVOSTEM No. 670126 to SP)

YAP/TAZ-Dependent Reprogramming of Colonic Epithelium Links ECM Remodeling to Tissue Regeneration

Tissue regeneration requires dynamic cellular adaptation to the wound environment. It is currently unclear how this is orchestrated at the cellular level and how cell fate is affected by severe tissue damage. Here we dissect cell fate transitions during colonic regeneration in a mouse dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) colitis model, and we demonstrate that the epithelium is transiently reprogrammed into a primitive state. This is characterized by de novo expression of fetal markers as well as suppression of markers for adult stem and differentiated cells. The fate change is orchestrated by remodeling the extracellular matrix (ECM), increased FAK/Src signaling, and ultimately YAP/TAZ activation. In a defined cell culture system recapitulating the extracellular matrix remodeling observed in vivo, we show that a collagen 3D matrix supplemented with Wnt ligands is sufficient to sustain endogenous YAP/TAZ and induce conversion of cell fate. This provides a simple model for tissue regeneration, implicating cellular reprogramming as an essential element

Recessive Genome-wide Meta-analysis Illuminates Genetic Architecture of Type 2 Diabetes

Most genome-wide association studies (GWAS) of complex traits are performed using models with additive allelic effects. Hundreds of loci associated with type 2 diabetes have been identified using this approach. Additive models, however, can miss loci with recessive effects, thereby leaving potentially important genes undiscovered. We conducted the largest GWAS meta-analysis using a recessive model for type 2 diabetes. Our discovery sample included 33,139 case subjects and 279,507 control subjects from 7 European-ancestry cohorts, including the UK Biobank. We identified 51 loci associated with type 2 diabetes, including five variants undetected by prior additive analyses. Two of the five variants had minor allele frequency of <5% and were each associated with more than a doubled risk in homozygous carriers. Using two additional cohorts, FinnGen and a Danish cohort, we replicated three of the variants, including one of the low-frequency variants, rs115018790, which had an odds ratio in homozygous carriers of 2.56 (95% CI 2.05–3.19; P = 1 × 10(−16)) and a stronger effect in men than in women (for interaction, P = 7 × 10(−7)). The signal was associated with multiple diabetes-related traits, with homozygous carriers showing a 10% decrease in LDL cholesterol and a 20% increase in triglycerides; colocalization analysis linked this signal to reduced expression of the nearby PELO gene. These results demonstrate that recessive models, when compared with GWAS using the additive approach, can identify novel loci, including large-effect variants with pathophysiological consequences relevant to type 2 diabetes

YAP/TAZ-Dependent Reprogramming of Colonic Epithelium Links ECM Remodeling to Tissue Regeneration

Tissue regeneration requires dynamic cellular adaptation to the wound environment. It is currently unclear how this is orchestrated at the cellular level and how cell fate is affected by severe tissue damage. Here we dissect cell fate transitions during colonic regeneration in a mouse dextran sulfate sodium (DSS) colitis model, and we demonstrate that the epithelium is transiently reprogrammed into a primitive state. This is characterized by de novo expression of fetal markers as well as suppression of markers for adult stem and differentiated cells. The fate change is orchestrated by remodeling the extracellular matrix (ECM), increased FAK/Src signaling, and ultimately YAP/TAZ activation. In a defined cell culture system recapitulating the extracellular matrix remodeling observed in vivo, we show that a collagen 3D matrix supplemented with Wnt ligands is sufficient to sustain endogenous YAP/TAZ and induce conversion of cell fate. This provides a simple model for tissue regeneration, implicating cellular reprogramming as an essential element