Journal: bioRxiv
Article Title: Noncanonical Wnt/Ror2 Signaling Regulates Basal Cell Fidelity and Branching Morphogenesis in the Mammary Gland
doi: 10.1101/2025.02.25.640099
Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Bubble plot showing Reactome Pathway Analysis enrichment based on genes with significantly altered promoter accessibility in scATAC-seq data from control and p63-Ror2-KO cells. Pathways are ranked by the number of genes with altered promoter accessibility, represented by bubble size and red color gradients. (B) Quantitative RT-qPCR analysis of Rho GTPase-activating proteins Arhgap24 and Arhgap32 in FACS-isolated basal epithelial cells from control and p63-Ror2-KO mice. Gene expression levels were normalized to GAPDH, and fold changes were plotted relative to the control group ( p = 0.008 for Arhgap24 ; p < 0.001 for Arhgap32 ; n = 3 biological replicates per group). (C) Western blot for Ror2 showing efficient Ror2 knockdown with LeGO-shRor2 cells relative to LeGO-shLUC control cells. (D) Western blot analysis of GTP-bound RhoA, total RhoA, ROCK1, Cdc42, Rac1/2/3, and GAPDH in shLUC and shRor2 mammary basal epithelial cells with or without Wnt5a treatment. (E) Peak tracks illustrating accessible genomic elements for YAP1 downstream target genes Vgll3, Ctgf, and Ankrd1. These regions are less accessible in luminal cell types in p63-Ror2-KO groups. (F) Venn diagram showing the overlap between significantly altered transcription factors identified in scATAC-seq motif enrichment analysis and YAP1-binding transcription factors from previous ChIP sequencing data . (G) Western blot analysis of phospho-YAP1, total YAP1, TAZ, phospho-LATS1, LATS1, and GAPDH in shLUC and shRor2 mammary basal epithelial cells with or without Wnt5a treatment. (H) Quantitative RT-qPCR analysis of Hippo/YAP1 signaling genes in FACS-isolated basal epithelial cells from control and p63-Ror2-KO mice. Gene expression levels were normalized to GAPDH , and fold changes were plotted relative to the control group ( p = 0.015 for LATS2; p < 0.001 for other genes; n = 3 biological replicates per group). (I, J) Representative immunofluorescence images showing eGFP (green) and YAP1 (gray) in mammary gland cross-sections from (I) control and (J) p63-Ror2-KO mice at 4 weeks post-tamoxifen injection. Scale bars: 20 μm for merged images and 10 μm for magnified insets (I’, I”, J’, J”). White arrowheads indicate nuclear YAP1 in eGFP + basal cells, while yellow arrowheads indicate the absence of nuclear YAP1 in eGFP + luminal cells within p63-Ror2-KO mammary ducts.
Article Snippet: The following primary antibodies were used, with their respective dilutions indicated: Ror2 (1:1000; Developmental Studies Hybridoma Bank, Iowa City, IA), RhoA (1:1000; #2117; Cell Signaling Technology [CST], Danvers, MA), ROCK1 (1:1000; #4035; CST), Cdc42 (1:1000; #2466; CST), Rac1/2/3 (1:1000; #2465; CST), YAP/TAZ (1:1000; #8418; CST), phosphorylated YAP (p-YAP, 1:1000; #13008; CST), LATS1 (1:1000; #3477; CST), phosphorylated LATS1 (p-LATS1, 1:1000; #9157; CST), and GAPDH (1:2500; #5174; CST).
Techniques: Control, Quantitative RT-PCR, Isolation, Gene Expression, Western Blot, Knockdown, Binding Assay, ChIP-sequencing, Immunofluorescence, Injection