The role of Sox10 in enteric neural crest cell migration

Abstract

Sox10 is a transcription factor required for enteric neural crest cells to colonize the gut during development. Sox10 functions to maintain enteric neural cell survival and multipotency. We have shown that Sox10 mutant enteric neural crest cells have abnormal migration trajectories with reduced migration speed and persistence in ex vivo gut culture, therefore we hypothesize that Sox10 is also required for enteric neural crest cell migration, possibly through regulating neural crest cell‐neural crest cell or neural crest‐extracellular matrix interactions. Here we aim to characterize how Sox10 influences the interaction between enteric neural crest cells and extracellular matrix molecules. We examined the behavior of enteric neural crest cells on ECM molecules by 1‐day ex vivo gut explant culture of E12.5 embryonic gut. Sox10NGFP/+ enteric neural crest cells were less dispersed and formed clusters on fibronectin and laminin substratum, indicating Sox10NGFP/+ enteric neural crest cells were unable to interact with extracellular matrix molecules in a normal manner. Analysis of time‐lapse videos capturing cell movements for 6 hours showed a significant reduction of speed and displacement in Sox10NGFP/+ enteric neural crest cells. We also showed by western blot analysis that pFAK397 was reduced in Sox10NGFP/+ guts, implying a role of Sox10 in regulating enteric neural crest cell motility. Altogether our findings point to a role of Sox10 in regulating enteric neural crest cell migration by modulating the interactions between enteric neural crest cells and extracellular matrix molecules.