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Lorin E Olson

Publications and source records attributed to Lorin E Olson.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

Homeodomain-mediated beta-catenin-dependent switching events dictate cell-lineage determination.

While the biological roles of canonical Wnt/beta-catenin signaling in development and disease are well documented, understanding the molecular logic underlying the functionally distinct nuclear transcriptional programs mediating the diverse functions of beta-catenin remains a major challenge. Here, we report an unexpected strategy for beta-catenin-dependent regulation of cell-lineage determination based on interactions between beta-catenin and a specific homeodomain factor, Prop1, rather than Lef/Tcfs. beta-catenin acts as a binary switch to simultaneously activate expression of the critical lineage-determining transcription factor, Pit1, and to repress the gene encoding the lineage-inhibiting transcription factor, Hesx1, acting via TLE/Reptin/HDAC1 corepressor complexes. The strategy of functionally distinct actions of a homeodomain factor in response to Wnt signaling is suggested to be prototypic of a widely used mechanism for generating diverse cell types from pluripotent precursor cells in response to common signaling pathways during organogenesis.

Animals↗

Barx2 functions through distinct corepressor classes to regulate hair follicle remodeling.

The hair-growth cycle, a complex biological system requiring coordinate alterations in gene expression and cellular behavior, provides a challenging model for investigating the interplay of specific transcriptional regulation events. Here we report that the Barx2 homeodomain factor serves as a regulator of hair follicle remodeling (catagen), and loss of Barx2 in mice causes a defect both in the initiation and progression of catagen, resulting in a protracted first catagen, and later, causing short hair in adult gene-deleted mice. Barx2 negatively regulates its own promoter, and our study highlights the role of Barx2 as a repressor in the skin that can, unexpectedly, functionally interact with two WD40-domain factors distantly related to the yeast corepressor Tup1. These two corepressors, transducin-like enhancer of split and transducin beta-like 1, function through distinct and independent interactions with Barx2 for the repression of gene targets, including the Barx2 gene itself, emphasizing the roles of complementary repression strategies in engrailed homology-1 motif-containing homeodomain factors. Together, our data suggest that the hair-remodeling defect of Barx2 mutant mice could be explained, in part, by failure to repress one or more critical target genes.

Animals↗

Paired-like repression/activation in pituitary development.

Pituitary gland development is controlled by signals that guide expression of specific combinations of transcription factors that dictate serial determination and differentiation events. One class of factors is paired-like homeodomain factors. Two that have been investigated are the repressor Hex1/Rpx and activator prophet of Pit-1 (Prop-1), which exert selective roles during pituitary development. The opposing actions of these factors provide one aspect of pituitary organogenesis.

Animals↗