Onset of taste bud cell renewal starts at birth and coincides with a shift in SHH function
Erin J Golden,
Eric D Larson,
Lauren A Shechtman,
G Devon Trahan,
Dany Gaillard,
Timothy J Fellin,
Jennifer K Scott,
Kenneth L Jones,
Linda A Barlow
Affiliations
Erin J Golden
Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States; The Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States
The Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States; Department of Otolaryngology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States
Lauren A Shechtman
Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States; The Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States
G Devon Trahan
Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplant, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States
Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States; The Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States
Timothy J Fellin
Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States; The Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States
Jennifer K Scott
Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States; The Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States
Kenneth L Jones
Department of Pediatrics, Section of Hematology, Oncology, and Bone Marrow Transplant, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States
Department of Cell & Developmental Biology, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States; The Rocky Mountain Taste and Smell Center, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, United States
Embryonic taste bud primordia are specified as taste placodes on the tongue surface and differentiate into the first taste receptor cells (TRCs) at birth. Throughout adult life, TRCs are continually regenerated from epithelial progenitors. Sonic hedgehog (SHH) signaling regulates TRC development and renewal, repressing taste fate embryonically, but promoting TRC differentiation in adults. Here, using mouse models, we show TRC renewal initiates at birth and coincides with onset of SHHs pro-taste function. Using transcriptional profiling to explore molecular regulators of renewal, we identified Foxa1 and Foxa2 as potential SHH target genes in lingual progenitors at birth and show that SHH overexpression in vivo alters FoxA1 and FoxA2 expression relevant to taste buds. We further bioinformatically identify genes relevant to cell adhesion and cell locomotion likely regulated by FOXA1;FOXA2 and show that expression of these candidates is also altered by forced SHH expression. We present a new model where SHH promotes TRC differentiation by regulating changes in epithelial cell adhesion and migration.
