Lamins, the major components of the nuclear lamina, have diverse functions in many cellular processes. Despite broad expression, lamins have been implicated in cell type-specific roles in development, aging and disease by regulating gene expression. Yet, due to the lack of in depth lineage-specific functional studies, it remains unclear whether or how lamins regulate cell type-specific functions. Using targeted knockout of lamin B1 in the olfactory sensory neuron lineage, we show that lamin B1 is not required for early stages of olfactory sensory neuron differentiation but is needed for formation of mature neurons that properly respond to odor stimulation. Lamin B1 mutant cells exhibited decreased expression of genes involved in mature neuron function, increased expression of genes atypical of the olfactory lineage and clustered nuclear pore distribution. These results demonstrate that the universally expressed lamin B1 regulates cell type-specific gene expression and terminal differentiation. SOURCE: Haiqing Zhao (hzhao@jhu.edu) -  Johns Hopkins University

Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE80044: RNA-seq of Lmnb1-/- and Lmnb1+/- olfactory lineages