Notch and retinoic acid signals regulate macrophage formation from endocardium downstream of Nkx2-5.

Norika Liu, Naofumi Kawahira, Yasuhiro Nakashima, Haruko Nakano, Akiyasu Iwase, Yasunobu Uchijima, Mei Wang, Sean M Wu, Susumu Minamisawa, Hiroki Kurihara, Atsushi Nakano

Nature communications 2023 Sep 05

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Hematopoietic progenitors are enriched in the endocardial cushion and contribute, in a Nkx2-5-dependent manner, to tissue macrophages required for the remodeling of cardiac valves and septa. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism of endocardial-hematopoietic transition. In the current study, we identified the regulatory network of endocardial hematopoiesis. Signal network analysis from scRNA-seq datasets revealed that genes in Notch and retinoic acid (RA) signaling are significantly downregulated in Nkx2-5-null endocardial cells. In vivo and ex vivo analyses validate that the Nkx2-5-Notch axis is essential for the generation of both hemogenic and cushion endocardial cells, and the suppression of RA signaling via Dhrs3 expression plays important roles in further differentiation into macrophages. Genetic ablation study revealed that these macrophages are essential in cardiac valve remodeling. In summary, the study demonstrates that the Nkx2-5/Notch/RA signaling plays a pivotal role in macrophage differentiation from hematopoietic progenitors. © 2023. Springer Nature Limited.

Citation

Norika Liu, Naofumi Kawahira, Yasuhiro Nakashima, Haruko Nakano, Akiyasu Iwase, Yasunobu Uchijima, Mei Wang, Sean M Wu, Susumu Minamisawa, Hiroki Kurihara, Atsushi Nakano. Notch and retinoic acid signals regulate macrophage formation from endocardium downstream of Nkx2-5. Nature communications. 2023 Sep 05;14(1):5398