Clayton Marshall Paper Makes Cell Reports Cover

Congratulations to Clayton Marshall (Pietenpol Lab) for making the cover of Cell Reports with his submission, "p73 Is Required for Multiciliogenesis and Regulates the Foxj1-Associated Gene Network." Clayton's wife, Erin, designed the cover image (below). Click here to view PubMed link.

Summary

We report that p73 is expressed in multiciliated cells (MCCs), is required for MCC differentiation, and directly regulates transcriptional modulators of multiciliogenesis. Loss of ciliary biogenesis provides a unifying mechanism for many phenotypes observed in p73 knockout mice including hydrocephalus, hippocampal dysgenesis, sterility and chronic inflammation/infection of lung, middle ear and sinus. Through p73 and p63 ChIP-seq using murine tracheal cells, we identified over 100 putative p73 target genes that regulate MCC differentiation and homeostasis. We validated Foxj1, a transcriptional regulator of multiciliogenesis, and many other cilia-associated genes as direct target genes of p73 and p63. We show p73 and p63 are co-expressed in a subset of basal cells, and suggest that p73 ‘marks’ these cells for MCC differentiation. In sum, p73 is essential for MCC differentiation, functions as a critical regulator of a transcriptome required for MCC differentiation and, like p63, has an essential role in development of tissues.

On The Cover

Marshall et al. discover that p73 is required for MCC differentiation, and directly regulates transcriptional modulators of multiciliogenesis. Loss of ciliary biogenesis provides a unifying mechanism for many phenotypes observed in p73 knockout mice including hydrocephalus, hippocampal dysgenesis, sterility and chronic inflammation/infection of lung, middle ear and sinus.  (Image by Erin Marshall)