ArticlePloS one2021
The MITF paralog tfec is required in neural crest development for fate specification of the iridophore lineage from a multipotent pigment cell progenitor.
Article in PloS one, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 31 papers.
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Who cites it
31 citing papers in PubMed, 57 citations in OpenAlex.
- Asymmetric Functional Divergence ofCells · 2026Article
- GNAQ Induces Melanomagenesis in Mitfa-Independent Melanocyte Progenitors in a Zebrafish Model of Uveal Melanoma.Cancer research · 2026Article
- Loss of MITF activity leads to emergent cell states from the melanocyte stem cell lineage.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- A Simple Method for RNA-Seq of Manually Isolated Chromatophores in Oryzias Fishes.Development, growth & differentiation · 2026Article
- Insertion of an invading retrovirus regulates a novel color trait in swordtail fish.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Long-term evolutionary persistence of a cryptic color polymorphism in frogs.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Mitfa-Independent Melanocyte Progenitors are Highly Susceptible to GNAQ-induced Uveal Melanoma in Adult Zebrafish.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Article
- Dominant Negative Mitf Allele Impacts Melanophore and Xanthophore Development and Reveals Collaborative Interactions With Tfec in Zebrafish Chromatophore Lineages.Pigment cell & melanoma research · 2025Article
- Article
- Agouti and BMP signaling drive a naturally occurring fate conversion of melanophores to leucophores in zebrafish.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Melanocyte lineage dynamics in development, growth and disease.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2024Review
- NF-κB in the Radiation Response of A549 Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cells to X-rays and Carbon Ions under Hypoxia.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
- Integrative single-cell and bulk RNA-seq analyses identify CD4Frontiers in immunology · 2024Article
- On the role of TFEC in reptilian coloration.Frontiers in cell and developmental biology · 2024Article
- A gene regulatory network combining Pax3/7, Sox10 and Mitf generates diverse pigment cell types in medaka and zebrafish.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2023Article
- Genetic mapping and molecular mechanism behind color variation in the Asian vine snake.Genome biology · 2023Article
- Zebrafish pigment cells develop directly from persistent highly multipotent progenitors.Nature communications · 2023Article
- Piebaldism and chromatophore development in reptiles are linked to the tfec gene.Current biology : CB · 2023Article
- MITF deficiency and oncogenic GNAQ each promote proliferation programs in zebrafish melanocyte lineage cells.Pigment cell & melanoma research · 2022Article
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
Abstract
Understanding how fate specification of distinct cell-types from multipotent progenitors occurs is a fundamental question in embryology. Neural crest stem cells (NCSCs) generate extraordinarily diverse derivatives, including multiple neural, skeletogenic and pigment cell fates. Key transcription factors and extracellular signals specifying NCSC lineages remain to be identified, and we have only a little idea of how and when they function together to control fate. Zebrafish have three neural crest-derived pigment cell types, black melanocytes, light-reflecting iridophores and yellow xanthophores, which offer a powerful model for studying the molecular and cellular mechanisms of fate segregation. Mitfa has been identified as the master regulator of melanocyte fate. Here, we show that an Mitf-related transcription factor, Tfec, functions as master regulator of the iridophore fate. Surprisingly, our phenotypic analysis of tfec mutants demonstrates that Tfec also functions in the initial specification of all three pigment cell-types, although the melanocyte and xanthophore lineages recover later. We show that Mitfa represses tfec expression, revealing a likely mechanism contributing to the decision between melanocyte and iridophore fate. Our data are consistent with the long-standing proposal of a tripotent progenitor restricted to pigment cell fates. Moreover, we investigate activation, maintenance and function of tfec in multipotent NCSCs, demonstrating for the first time its role in the gene regulatory network forming and maintaining early neural crest cells. In summary, we build on our previous work to characterise the gene regulatory network governing iridophore development, establishing Tfec as the master regulator driving iridophore specification from multipotent progenitors, while shedding light on possible cellular mechanisms of progressive fate restriction.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.