ArticleProceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America2021
Spatial transcriptomics reveals a role for sensory nerves in preserving cranial suture patency through modulation of BMP/TGF-β signaling.
Article in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 55 papers.
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Who cites it
55 citing papers in PubMed, 74 citations in OpenAlex.
- The tectum transversum maintains patency of the developing coronal suture.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2026Article
- SpatialFlux: an R package for distance gradient analysis in spatial transcriptomics.Bioinformatics (Oxford, England) · 2026Article
- Conserved anterior/posterior tissue asymmetry encodes proximal/distal positional information during axolotl limb regeneration.Cell reports · 2026Article
- TGFβ-mediated dural progenitor cell migration into the coronal suture is crucial for preventing craniosynostosis.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Spatiotemporal single-cell atlas of suture stem cell dynamics in craniosynostosis.Stem cell research & therapy · 2026Article
- Divergent Mechanisms of Cranial Suture Ossification in Normal Development and Pathologic Fusion.Journal of cellular and molecular medicine · 2026Review
- Review
- Integrative spatial multi-omics reveal niche-specific inflammatory signaling and differentiation hierarchies in AML.iScience · 2026Article
- Advances in Spatial Transcriptomics in Bone.Current osteoporosis reports · 2026Review
- Neuro-skeletal units and Smart Analgesia: reprogramming sensory neurons for fracture repair.Military Medical Research · 2026Article
- Directing Neutrophil Fate via Sensory-Immune Interactions Accelerates Diabetic Bone Healing.Research (Washington, D.C.) · 2026Article
- Advancements in bone marrow biopsy: the role of omics and artificial intelligence in hematologic diagnostics.Frontiers in medicine · 2026Review
- Characterization of the bone marrow architecture of multiple myeloma using spatial transcriptomics.Communications biology · 2025Article
- The nerve center of organ engineering.Nature communications · 2025Review
- Can alternatives to animal testing yield useful information regarding biological mechanisms and drug discovery?Journal of orthopaedic translation · 2025Review
- Single-cell sequencing uncovers sensory neuron-mediated CGRP signaling as a driver of sarcoma progression.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2025Article
- Axon guidance cue SLIT2 regulates the murine skeletal stem cell niche through sympathetic innervation.The Journal of clinical investigation · 2025Article
- In silico & in vitro approaches suggest osteoclastogenesis induction underlying fractures in Entrectinib-treated children.Archives of toxicology · 2025Article
- Deconstruction of cellular dynamics after treatment of volumetric muscle loss injury with extracellular matrix.NPJ Regenerative medicine · 2025Article
- Reduced somatosensory innervation alters the skeletal transcriptome at a single cell level in a mouse model of type 2 diabetes.Bone research · 2025Article
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Authors and funding
13 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
The patterning and ossification of the mammalian skeleton requires the coordinated actions of both intrinsic bone morphogens and extrinsic neurovascular signals, which function in a temporal and spatial fashion to control mesenchymal progenitor cell (MPC) fate. Here, we show the genetic inhibition of tropomyosin receptor kinase A (TrkA) sensory nerve innervation of the developing cranium results in premature calvarial suture closure, associated with a decrease in suture MPC proliferation and increased mineralization. In vitro, axons from peripheral afferent neurons derived from dorsal root ganglions (DRGs) of wild-type mice induce MPC proliferation in a spatially restricted manner via a soluble factor when cocultured in microfluidic chambers. Comparative spatial transcriptomic analysis of the cranial sutures in vivo confirmed a positive association between sensory axons and proliferative MPCs. SpatialTime analysis across the developing suture revealed regional-specific alterations in bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and TGF-β signaling pathway transcripts in response to TrkA inhibition. RNA sequencing of DRG cell bodies, following direct, axonal coculture with MPCs, confirmed the alterations in BMP/TGF-β signaling pathway transcripts. Among these, the BMP inhibitor follistatin-like 1 (FSTL1) replicated key features of the neural-to-bone influence, including mitogenic and anti-osteogenic effects via the inhibition of BMP/TGF-β signaling. Taken together, our results demonstrate that sensory nerve-derived signals, including FSTL1, function to coordinate cranial bone patterning by regulating MPC proliferation and differentiation in the suture mesenchyme.
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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 OpenQuestion graph.