Myc-dependent dedifferentiation of Gata6+ epidermal cells resembles reversal of terminal differentiation

Dedifferentiation is the process by which terminally differentiated cells acquire the properties of stem cells. During mouse skin wound healing, the differentiated Gata6-lineage positive cells of the sebaceous duct are able to dedifferentiate. Here we have integrated lineage tracing and single-cell mRNA sequencing to uncover the underlying mechanism. Gata6-lineage positive and negative epidermal stem cells in wounds are transcriptionally indistinguishable. Furthermore, in contrast to reprogramming of induced pluripotent stem cells, the same genes are expressed in the epidermal dedifferentiation and differentiation trajectories, indicating that dedifferentiation does not involve adoption of a new cell state. We demonstrate that dedifferentiation is not only induced by wounding, but also by retinoic acid treatment or mechanical expansion of the epidermis. In all three cases, dedifferentiation is dependent on the master transcription factor c-Myc. Mechanotransduction and actin-cytoskeleton remodelling are key features of dedifferentiation. Our study elucidates the molecular basis of epidermal dedifferentiation, which may be generally applicable to adult tissues. Bernabé-Rubio et al. report that dedifferentiation of Gata6+ epidermal cells occurs during wound healing or mechanical expansion of the epidermis through a Myc-dependent process that resembles reversal of differentiation.

• Publication year

  2023

• Venue

  Nature Cell Biology

• Publication date

  2023-09-21

• Fields of study

  Biology, Medicine

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1038/s41556-023-01234-5PMID 37735598PMCID 10567550
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar, PubMed

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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