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Molecular and Cellular Biology, May 2005, p. 3608-3619, Vol. 25, No. 9
0270-7306/05/$08.00+0 doi:10.1128/MCB.25.9.3608-3619.2005
Copyright © 2005, American Society for Microbiology. All Rights Reserved.

Laboratory of Vertebrate Embryology, Rockefeller University, New York, New York
Received 26 July 2004/ Accepted 12 October 2004
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Phospholipases A2 (PLA2s) are enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of glycerophospholipids to yield fatty acids and lysophospholipids and are considered key enzymes in the generation of biologically active lipids during inflammation (46, 54, 58). Within the PLA2 superfamily, two main classes of enzymes have been identified based on their subcellular distribution (54, 58): the cytosolic PLA2s (46) and a large number of molecules that are released into the extracellular space and are therefore termed the secreted PLA2s (sPLA2s) (8, 9, 14, 56, 58). These secreted molecules are Ca2+-dependent phospholipases, disulfide-rich proteins of 14 to 18 kDa. Current evidence suggests that the biology of the sPLA2s is complex, both in the types of responses they elicit as well as in their mechanism of action. It has been postulated that the biological activity of this class of secreted proteins might involve receptor-activation and signaling in a fashion independent of their enzymatic activity (14). Two biochemically distinct classes of receptors (M and N types [2, 9, 48]) and a variety of extracellular binding proteins have been identified (58), suggesting that the sPLA2s might signal through receptor activation. However, there is no conclusive evidence that the bioactivities of the sPLA2s might arise from two distinct mechanisms, one mediated through lipid hydrolysis and one mediated through direct activation of a receptor.
Recently, a novel sPLA2 has been characterized as an independent class within the sPLA2s (14). This molecule, termed sPLA2-gXII (for group XII), is a highly conserved protein that retains the active-site histidine and the histidine and aspartic acid catalytic dyad found in other sPLA2s (see Fig. 2) (45). Although this protein retains weak lipid hydrolyase activity (14), both the pattern of cysteines outside the active site and the Ca2+-binding loop are quite distinct from other sPLA2s. Furthermore, the unique distribution of human sPLA2-gXII suggests that it might fulfill specific functions (14). As part of a gain-of-function screen aimed at identifying factors with embryological activities during Xenopus laevis development, we discovered that sPLA2-gXII modulates germ layer specification. Overexpression of mouse, Drosophila melanogaster, and Xenopus orthologs of sPLA2-gXII in the prospective neural territory leads to ectopic neurogenesis and to the induction of ectopic olfactory sensory structures, including olfactory bulb and sensory epithelium. Because of the effects of sPLA2-gXII on ectopic olfactory generation, we renamed sPLA2-gXII "Rossy" (after Pedro Almodovar's actress Rossy de Palma, most likely the "most famous nose in Spain").
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FIG. 2. Sequence alignment of Rossy orthologs and expression of Xenopus Rossy mRNA. (A) Alignment of Xenopus, human, mouse, and Drosophila cDNAs. Identical residues are highlighted in red. Notice conservation in the 14 cysteines (black dots) and the phospholipase active site (green box) (24). Signal sequence is underlined. Exon-intron junctions are marked by inverted triangles. (B) Temporal expression of xRossy by RT-PCR. Numbers are embryonic stages. Stage 6.5 corresponds to maternal transcripts. (C) RT-PCR analysis of dissected embryos at stage 10.5. Chordin, dorsal mesoderm; Wnt-8, ventrolateral mesoderm; Xbra, pan-mesoderm; Vg-1, endoderm; ODC (ornithine decarboxylase), loading control. (D to G) Expression of xRossy by in situ hybridization at (D) stage 10.5, (E) stage 19 to 20, and (F and G) tadpole stages. Notice expression in the animal pole in panel D, neural tissue in panel E, and hatching (hg) and cement glands (cg) in panels F and G. The section in panel D is 50 µm.
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Embryonic expression of xRossy. Expression of xRossy by in situ hybridization with xRossy digoxigenin riboprobes was performed as described previously (16). Reverse transcription (RT)-PCR analysis of xRossy was performed with 5'-GACTGTGATGAGGAGTTTCAG-3' (forward) and 5'-CTCCAGGTAAGGTTTACATCC-3' (reverse).
Embryo manipulations and RNA injections. Capped mRNAs were microinjected with (per embryo) xRossy (250 pg to 1 ng), bmp-4 (1 ng), Smad-1 (1 ng), Smad-4a (1 ng), and OAZ (100 pg).
Plasmids and constructs. Full-length Xenopus sPLA2-gXII open reading frame was amplified by PCR and subcloned into the pCS2++ vector. Drosophila sPLA2-gXII was subcloned into pCS2++ by PCR. The point mutant H113E version of mouse sPLA2-gXII was engineered by PCR with a QuickchangeM kit (Stratagene) following the manufacturer's instructions. C-terminal hemagglutinin (HA)-tagged mouse sPLA2-gXII was performed by conventional PCR.
Expression analysis of human Rossy in embryonic stem cells. Human H1 embryonic stem (ES) cells (WiCell, Wis.) were grown in feeder-free conditions as described previously (51). Primers for human Oct3/4 and glyceraldehyde-3 phosphate dehydrogenase were as described previously (52). Primers for human Rossy were (sense) GACGGATCTAAGCCTTTCCC and (antisense) CCACTGTTGTTTCACATGCC.
Luciferase reporter experiments. In animal cap experiments, embryos were injected with 25 pg to 50 pg of reporters together with various RNAs in one blastomere at the four-cell stage (BRE4-luciferase) or the dorsal marginal zone (ARE3-luciferase, TOP-FLASH, Goosecoid-luciferase, or Brachyury-luciferase). Assays were measured in triplicate, and embryos were lysed at stage 11 using the Promega luciferase reporter assay kit. In P19 cells, cells were transfected in 12 wells with reporters (150 ng/well) and renilla luciferase (3.5 ng/well), together with various cDNAs using Invitrogen Lipofectamine 2000 reagent. Cells were exposed to 10 ng/ml of recombinant BMP4 (rhBMP4) or activin proteins (R&D Systems) 18 h prior to luciferase measurements using the Promega dual luciferase kit.
Smad1 activity and oligonucleotide pulldown experiments. Smad1 phosphorylation in P19 cells was measured 30 min following exposure to rhBMP4 with a polyclonal antibody against phospho-Smad1 (Upstate Biotechnology). Anti-Smad antibodies were from Upstate Biotechnology. For the oligonucleotide pulldown experiments, we made 5'-biotinylated BRE oligonucleotides (from IT-DNA) encoding the wild type or a 3' box mutant BRE (19). Oligonucleotides were annealed to form double strands and incubated with the extracts as described previously (19).
Microarray analysis. Microarrays with 5,000 cDNAs from a gastrula stage library were performed as described previously (43). One nanogram of Rossy RNA was injected into the animal pole at the two-cell stage, and RNAs were harvested at stage 10.5. Results represent data obtained from four data points (two microarray experiments with inverse dye hybridizations). Primers used for RT-PCR are as follows (5' to 3'): clone 8-G4/Akt-like, (S) GTTTTTACAGAGGACAGAGCACG and (AS) CAAATAACCTCTCATGGTCTTGG; clone 22-A2/xSall1, (S) CAAACTCAATACTTCCCTCAACG and (AS) CTGGAAGAAGAGAATGATTTCCC; clone 29-E12/calreticulin, (S) AGTAAAAGCGATAAGTAACCGGC and (AS) AACAGGCACCCATTTATAGATCC; clone 34-A8/Bcl-7b, (S) TGGATTTATATTTCGGGCTAAGG and (AS) 5'-AAAGTTCTGCATGGCAGTATAGC.
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FIG. 1. Expression of Rossy in prospective neural ectoderm promotes neurogenesis and olfactory sensory development in Xenopus. Phenotypes of Rossy RNA injections (500 pg) in a dorsal animal blastomere at the eight-cell stage are shown. (A) Neural tissue staining with 6F11 antibody (Developmental Hybridoma, Iowa) reveals ectopic neuronal structures (arrows). This embryo received injections in both dorsal animal blastomeres. (B to F) Composite Z-stack confocal images of transgenic green fluorescent protein-ß-tubulin embryos (27). (B) Uninjected embryo. (C to F) Embryos injected into dorso-animal blastomere. (C) Arrowheads point to ectopic olfactory bulbs. The arrow points to ectopic olfactory sensory epithelia and nerve innervating the secondary bulb on the injected side. (D) Notice ectopic bulb evagination. (E and F) Ectopic structures in the midbrain, including sensory epithelia (arrowhead). Arrows in panel F point to neurons in ectopic epithelia and ectopic nerve. ON, olfactory nerve; OB, olfactory bulb; OE, olfactory epithelium.
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Embryonic expression of Xenopus Rossy. In order to assess the embryonic expression and function of Rossy, we cloned Xenopus Rossy. This gene is conserved phylogenetically, and the open reading frame is composed of four exons, as identified in genomic database searches. The conservation between the frog and Drosophila cDNAs is considerably lower (26% identity), the homologies stretching to the active site and Ca2+-binding pocket (14) (Fig. 2A). Interestingly, the 14 cysteines are conserved evolutionarily, suggesting that structural conservation, rather than primary sequence, is critical for its function. Indeed, the Drosophila ortholog displays similar activities in all assays tested.
We determined Rossy's mRNA distribution by RT-PCR and whole-mount in situ hybridization. Transcripts are detected maternally and throughout early development (Fig. 2B). In the gastrulating embryo, xRossy is expressed in the ectoderm and animal pole, dorsal and ventral marginal zone mesendoderm, and, more weakly, the vegetal pole (Fig. 2C). This expression is corroborated by in situ hybridization during gastrula stages (Fig. 2D). xRossy is also expressed at neurula stages in the anterior neural plate (Fig. 2E to G), and it becomes restricted to cement and hatching glands, tissues known to be sensitive to BMP signaling (13, 22).
Neuralizing activity of Rossy in ectodermal explants. Although complex, the Rossy gain-of-function phenotypes can be associated with genes that modulate the BMP pathway. Because of the ectopic anterior neural structures, we investigated whether there is a molecular interaction between the activity of Rossy and this pathway. We analyzed cell fate changes in ectodermal explants injected with xRossy RNA. Indeed, xRossy induced, albeit weakly, Otx1/2 (a telencephalic marker), XAG (cement gland), and NRP-1 (pan-neural) and decreased epidermal keratin (not shown) without inducing mesendodermal genes. By these criteria, Rossy directly neuralizes the ectoderm, suggesting an inhibitory interaction between Rossy and BMP signaling. Next, and because Rossy acts as a weak neural inducer, we tested whether it could potentiate the effect of low doses of noggin (20 pg) in animal caps. Indeed, both the Drosophila and Xenopus orthologs can synergize with noggin, as judged by the expression of Sox-2, NCAM, and NRP-1 and of the anterior neural markers Otx1/2, Pax6, Six3, and Rx (Fig. 3A). Interestingly, we never detected expression of ventral markers such as Nkx2.1 or Shh, suggesting that the type of neural tissue induced by Rossy is dorsal. On their own, xRossy and Drosophila Rossy weakly induced xDll-3 (mDlx-5 ortholog), a gene required for the generation of olfactory structures (35). Overall, the effects of Rossy in the explants and in vivo suggested that its effects could be due to an interference with BMP signaling.
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FIG. 3. Rossy directly neuralizes animal cap explants and synergizes with noggin in anterior neural fate specification. (A) Injection of Drosophila and Xenopus Rossy RNA (500 pg to 1 ng) induces expression of NRP-1 (pan-neural), XAG (cement gland), and Otx1/2 (anterior neural). Both clones synergize with low doses of noggin (20 pg) in the induction of NCAM and Sox-2 and of Pax6, Rx, and Six3 (anterior neural). MyoD, muscle. (B and C) Interaction of Rossy with BMP signaling. Rossy (500 pg) was coinjected in the animal pole with bmp-4 (1 ng; B) or Smad-1 (1 ng; C). RT-PCR analysis was performed at stage 11 (B) or stage 28 (C). Rossy expression blocked Bra (mesoderm) and globin (a marker of blood) induction in the animal caps following BMP signaling. Ornithine decarboxylase (ODC) and EF-1 are loading controls. (D) Rossy blocks activation of a BRE (BRE4) luciferase reporter, even when coinjected with Smad1 (D).
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Induction of ectopic in vivo anterior neural marker expression by Rossy. The effects of Rossy on animal caps and in olfactory generation reflected a strong activity of Rossy on emerging neural tissue. Therefore, we monitored the expression of various neural markers in embryos injected with Rossy. The effects were more pronounced on dorsal anterior markers, where Rossy led to ectopic or expanded expression of Pax6, Rx, Six3, and Otx1/2 (Fig. 4 and not shown). The effects of Rossy led to a mediolateral expansion of anterior neural markers and N-tubulin (Fig. 4) as well as posterior expansion of the anterior markers Otx1/2 and Rx (Fig. 4C, D, G, and H). This occurred at the expense of cranial crest or placodal gene expression (not shown), consistent with the BMP inhibition model, whereby neural fates are promoted at the expense of peripheral fates (37, 42). The gain of Pax6 expression (a dorsal marker [53]) and loss of Xash1 (a ventral marker [not shown]) also confirm the specification of dorsal neural tissue formed by Rossy in the explants.
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FIG. 4. Effects of Rossy on neural marker expression in vivo. Albino embryos were injected into one dorsoanterior blastomere at the four-cell stage, and embryos were processed for in situ hybridization. (A and B) Mediolateral expansion (arrowhead in panel A) and ectopic expression of N-tubulin (arrow in panel B). (C) Otx1/2 expression in a control embryo and in an embryo injected on both sides with Rossy RNA (D). Arrowheads point to mediolateral and posterior expansion of Otx expression. (E) Upregulation of Pax6 in injected side. The embryo in panel F was coinjected with xRossy and ß-galactosidase, stained for LacZ activity (red), and processed for Pax6 in situ expression. Most injected cells (expressing LacZ) do not express Pax6, suggesting a non-cell-autonomous effect on Pax6 expression. (G and H) Expansion of Rx expression.
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FIG. 5. Specificity of Rossy activity in the ectoderm and change in the responsiveness of the animal cap cells to bFGF and TGFßs. Embryos (Emb.) were injected at the two-cell stage, and explants were cultured with bFGF (100 ng/ml) or activin oocyte-conditioned medium. RT-PCR analysis of animal caps treated with bFGF (lanes 5 to 6) or activin (lanes 7 to 8) is shown. bFGF exposure leads to ventral mesodermal fates, as judged by Brachyury and Wnt8 expression. Rossy weakly enhanced these markers (lane 6). In activin-treated caps, notice the decrease in cardiac actin (muscle), brachyury, and collagen (Coll.) type II (notochord) and the increase in Hex and Cerberus (anterior endoderm) and Otx 1/2 (anterior neural). CG, cement gland; Slug, neural crest; Hb9, lateral mesoderm; ODC, ornithine decarboxylase.
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FIG. 6. Transfection of Rossy in P19 mouse embryonic carcinoma cells inhibits a variety of BMP-responsive promoters. (A) Expression of human Rossy in H1 pluripotent embryonic stem cells (WiCell) as measured by RT-PCR. Oct3/4, pluripotent ES cell marker; glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (3GPD), loading control. (B to E) Luciferase reporter assays were performed in P19 cells 48 h after transfection. Rossy transfection blocked the activation of xVent-1-luciferase (B) and BRE4-luciferase (C) even in the presence of Smad1, Smad4, and OAZ. In C, the active-site mutant mRossy(H-E) retains complete BMP-inhibitory activity. (D) Rossy expression did not inhibit the TGFß-responsive promoter 3TP-lux. (F) The mTlx2 promoter does not require OAZ for activation, and it can also be inhibited by Rossy. (E) Lack of effect of Rossy on the pGL-P reporter.
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The effects of Rossy on the BMP promoters can arise from a change in the specificity of Smad1/4 complexes towards various binding partners and the choice of promoters and not necessarily on a direct transcriptional repression. In order to address at which step of the pathway Rossy acts, we monitored Smad1 phosphorylation, nuclear translocation, and DNA-binding activity in P19 cells (Fig. 7). We find that transfection of mRossy DNA does not affect Smad1 activation or the nuclear translocation of phosphorylated Smad1 (Fig. 7A to E). In order to monitor the binding of Smad complexes to DNA, we tested whether endogenous Smads bound a single BRE in oligonucleotide pulldown experiments (Fig. 7F) (19). In these experiments, BMP4 leads to binding of Smad1 and Smad4 to the BRE (Fig. 7F). Binding is abolished when extracts are incubated with a point mutant BRE (3' mut) (19). In the presence of Rossy, binding to the BRE is inhibited (Fig. 7F), as detected by the lack of interaction of Smad1 and Smad4 with the BRE. This suggests that the mechanism of inhibition of Rossy is due to an inability of activated Smad1/4 complexes to bind their cognate sites.
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FIG. 7. Mechanism of BMP inhibition mediated by Rossy signaling in P19 cells. (A) Smad1 is phosphorylated in P19 cells expressing mRossy. GFP, green fluorescent protein; WB, Western blot. (B to E) Nuclear translocation of phosphorylated Smad1 following BMP4 stimulation is unaltered in P19 cells expressing an HA-tagged mRossy (C). (B) Unstimulated cells. (C) Cells stimulated with rhBMP4 protein for 30 min. (D and E) Expression of Rossy-HA in P19 cells stimulated with rhBMP4 (green signal) and of phospho-Smad1 (red signal). Arrows point to normal nuclear translocation of Smad1 in cells expressing Rossy (E). (F) Rossy expression inhibits the ability of activated Smad1/4 complex to bind the BRE element in an oligonucleotide pulldown assay (32). Notice the large decrease in immunoreactivity of Smad1 and Smad4 in the bound material. wt, wild type.
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FIG. 8. Identification of potential target genes of Rossy in the ectoderm. Animal caps were injected with Rossy RNA, and cDNAs from uninjected and injected gastrula-stage animal caps were competitively hybridized to a microarray containing 5,000 gastrula cDNAs (5). Several genes were selected based on their differential expression in four hybridizations. The differential expression of these genes was confirmed by RT-PCRs using gene-specific primers (A). (B to D) mRNA expression analysis of xSalI in the anterior neural plate and olfactory bulbs in Xenopus embryos. The arrow in D points to the olfactory bulb expression of xSalI in tadpoles. At neurula stages, expression was restricted to sensory placodes and anterior neural plate (not shown). st10.5, stage 10.5; ODC, ornithine decarboxylase.
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In our hands, Pax6 and Rx expression was upregulated in embryo and in neuralized explants by Rossy. The expression of Rossy in the hatching gland marks the dorsal-most region of anterior neural tissue and flanks the formation of the neurogenic placodes and telencephalon. Because of its effects on Pax6 and olfactory structures, it is likely that Rossy modulates the position and fate of the placodes and dorsoanterior regions of the neural tube. Although both Rx and Pax6 are required for eye formation (38), mice lacking these genes also show loss of the forebrain in Rx/ mice (39) and of olfactory structures in Pax6-deficient mice (24, 25). Although the molecules implicated in olfactory bulb specification are largely unknown, FGF signaling is required for bulb morphogenesis (21, 40). In addition, retinoic acid signaling from the frontonasal mesenchyme promotes olfactory bulb formation through Pax6 expression (1, 30). Therefore, the effects of Rossy could result from Pax6 upregulation, an effect on FGF signaling, or both.
In addition, the arrival of axonal projections from the olfactory epithelium has been postulated to play a key role in olfactory bulb evagination (15) through an effect on telencephalic proliferation. However, this has been recently challenged in mice deficient for fgfr1 in the telencephalon (21) and in Dlx-5-deficient mice (35). We observed the duplicated olfactory bulbs in the absence of duplicated sensory epithelia, suggesting that the initial evagination is independent of the olfactory nerve. In several embryos, we found ectopic olfactory sensory epithelial structures whose axons innervated the ectopic bulbs, even within the midbrain region. Given the modulatory role of Rossy on the BMP pathway, and the recent report that a BMP-related member, GDF-11, acts to inhibit olfactory neuron generation (65), it will be of interest to determine whether Rossy acts to regulate olfactory neurogenesis in mice through a negative effect on GDF-11. Although the effects of Rossy on olfactory generation cannot be explained exclusively through a negative regulation of the BMP pathway, the effects on xSall-1 in animal caps suggest that Pax6/Sall-1 overexpression might direct telencephalic cell fates towards an olfactory identity.
Modulation of BMP/TGFß pathways by Rossy. Overall, Rossy activity inhibits several BMP target genes. The finding that an extracellular factor can inhibit the intracellular signal transducers Smad1 and Smad4 suggests that Rossy likely activates a cascade whose input acts to block a subset of Smad-dependent responses. Our experiments in P19 cells have shown that this effect is likely mediated through the regulation of the DNA-binding activity of activated Smad1/4 complexes. In that regard, we postulate that the observed inhibition of known BMP target genes arises from a shift in target gene preference in Smad1/4 complexes, rather than in an inhibition of the BMP pathway per se.
Overall, our results suggest that Rossy might act in an instructive manner through the activation of receptors and transduction of a signal with the ability to modulate Smad signaling. Although two classes of receptors have been described, only the M type has been cloned. The N-type receptor consists of at least two subunits and is expressed in the nervous system (9, 56). Whether Rossy can bind to this receptor is presently unknown, although expression in P19 cells of the soluble version of the sPLA2 180-kDa M-type receptor (56) does not interfere with the activity of Rossy (not shown), suggesting that they do not bind in this assay. A previous report has suggested that mitogen-activated protein kinase activation results from the exposure of astrocytic cells to sPLA2-gIIA (23). However, we were unable to inhibit the activity of Rossy in animal caps with amounts of dominant-negative Ras that can effectively block mesoderm induction by bFGF (61). Interestingly, two of the genes identified in our microarrays, an Akt homolog and calreticulin, are implicated in calcium homeostasis. Therefore, a topic of current interest in our lab is whether Rossy signaling involves Akt activation and calcium mobilization.
The functional conservation in mutants lacking the active-site histidine suggests that Rossy can elicit biological responses independently of a catalytic activity. However, both Rossy and other sPLA2s are capable of lipid hydrolysis (14, 31, 58), and there is evidence for a phospholipase A2 enzymatic activity in early zebra fish development. Therefore, the range of biological effects of the sPLA2s might be dependent on both modes of signaling. In support of a lipid hydrolysis-independent activity of sPLA2s, both the Rossy's zebra fish homolog (14) and the group XIII sPLA2 (GenBank accession number Q99P27) lack the active-site histidine.
Overall, we have demonstrated that Rossy signaling can act to modulate BMP/TGFß pathways and promote neurogenesis. The activity of this factor has been remarkably conserved, suggesting an ancestral function. The maternal expression of the Drosophila and Xenopus Rossy, and the expression of the mammalian orthologs in pluripotent ES cells, suggests that it might also modulate these pathways in embryonic stem cell differentiation.
This work is funded by NIH grant HD32105 to A.H.B. and a Helen Hay Whitney Foundation fellowship to I.M.-S.
Present address: Merck Sharp & Dohme, The Neuroscience Research Centre, Terlings Park, Essex CM20 2QR, United Kingdom. ![]()
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