FGF, WNT, and BMP signaling promote neural crest formation at the neural plate boundary in vertebrate embryos. To understand how these signals are integrated, we have analyzed the role of the transcription factors Msx1 and Pax3. Using a combination of overexpression and morpholino-mediated knockdown strategies in Xenopus, we show that Msx1 and Pax3 are both required for neural crest formation, display overlapping but nonidentical activities, and that Pax3 acts downstream of Msx1. In neuralized ectoderm, Msx1 is sufficient to induce multiple early neural crest genes. Msx1 induces Pax3 and ZicR1 cell autonomously, in turn, Pax3 combined with ZicR1 activates Slug in a WNT-dependent manner. Upstream of this, WNTs initiate Slug induction through Pax3 activity, whereas FGF8 induces neural crest through both Msx1 and Pax3 activities. Thus, WNT and FGF8 signals act in parallel at the neural border and converge on Pax3 activity during neural crest induction.

TERT, the protein component of telomerase 1,2 , serves to maintain telomere function through the de novo addition of telomere repeats to chromosome ends and is reactivated in 90% of human cancers. In normal tissues, TERT is expressed in stem cells and in progenitor cells 3 , but its role in these compartments is not fully understood. Here, we show that conditional transgenic induction of TERT in mouse skin epithelium causes a rapid transition from telogen, the resting phase of the hair follicle cycle, to anagen, the active phase, thereby facilitating robust hair growth. TERT overexpression promotes this developmental transition by causing proliferation of quiescent, multipotent stem cells in the hair follicle bulge region. This new function for TERT does not require the telomerase RNA component (TERC), which encodes the template for telomere addition, and therefore operates through a novel mechanism independent of its activity in synthesizing telomere repeats. These data indicate that, in addition to its established role in extending telomeres, TERT can promote proliferation of resting stem cells through a non-canonical pathway. Keywords telomerase; telomere; stem cell; hair follicle; epidermis In stem cell and progenitor cell compartments 3-5 , TERT serves an important role in keeping telomeres sufficiently long and stable to prevent the adverse consequences of dysfunctional telomeres on cell viability and chromosomal stability 6-8 . However, the need for expression of TERT in tissue stem cells and progenitor cells with long telomeres is less clear, especially in laboratory mice, whose telomeres are significantly longer than those of humans (40-60kb vs. 5-15kb). Moreover, recent findings indicate that TERT promotes tumor development even in settings of ample telomere reserve, although the mechanisms underlying these telomere length-independent activities of TERT remain unclear 9-13 . We therefore hypothesized that TERT may exert effects in stem cell and progenitor cell compartments that could explain both its regulation during lineage development and its poorly understood telomere lengthindependent activities.To test this hypothesis, we turned to the mammalian hair follicle, an organ that harbors tightly regulated multipotent stem cells and that cycles between telogen and anagen 14 . Initiation of a new anagen cycle depends upon activation of a small number of quiescent stem cells that reside

Crouzon syndrome is a debilitating congenital disorder involving abnormal craniofacial skeletal development caused by mutations in Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor-2 (FGFR2). Phenotypic expression in humans exhibits an autosomal dominant pattern that commonly involves premature fusion of the coronal suture (craniosynostosis) and severe midface hypoplasia. To further investigate biologic mechanisms by which the Crouzon syndrome associated FGFR2C342Y mutation leads to abnormal craniofacial skeletal development we created congenic BALB/c FGFR2C342Y/+ mice. Here we show that BALB/c FGFR2C342Y/+ mice have a consistent craniofacial phenotype including partial fusion of the coronal and lambdoid sutures, intersphenoidal synchondrosis and multiple facial bones, with minimal fusion of other craniofacial sutures. This phenotype is similar to the classic and less severe form of Crouzon syndrome that involves significant midface hypoplasia with limited craniosynostosis. Linear and morphometric analyses demonstrate that FGFR2C342Y/+ mice on the BALB/c genetic background differ significantly in form and shape from their wild type littermates, and that in this genetic background the FGFR2C342Y mutation preferentially effects some craniofacial bones and sutures over others. Analysis of cranial bone cells indicates that the FGFR2C342Y mutation promotes aberrant osteoblast differentiation and increased apoptosis that is more severe in frontal than parietal bone cells. Additionally, FGFR2C342Y/+ frontal but not parietal bones exhibit significantly diminished bone volume and density compared to wild type mice. These results confirm that FGFR2-associated craniosynostosis occurs in association with diminished cranial bone tissue and may provide a potential biologic explanation for the clinical finding of phenotype consistency that exists between many Crouzon syndrome patients.

Pax3 and Pax7 paralogous genes have functionally diverged in vertebrate evolution, creating opportunity for a new distribution of roles between the two genes and the evolution of novel functions. Here we focus on the regulation and function of Pax7 in the brain and neural crest of amphibian embryos, which display a different pax7 expression pattern, compared to the other vertebrates already described. Pax7 expression is restricted to the midbrain, hindbrain and anterior spinal cord, and Pax7 activity is important for maintaining the fates of these regions, by restricting otx2 expression anteriorly. In contrast, pax3 displays broader expression along the entire neuraxis and Pax3 function is important for posterior brain patterning without acting on otx2 expression. Moreover, while both genes are essential for neural crest patterning, we show that they do so using two distinct mechanisms: Pax3 acts within the ectoderm which will be induced into neural crest, while Pax7 is essential for the inducing activity of the paraxial mesoderm towards the prospective neural crest.