Multiciliated cells are abundant in the epithelial surface of different tissues, including cells lining the walls of the lateral ventricles in the brain and the airway epithelium. Their main role is to control fluid flow and defects in their differentiation are implicated in many human disorders, such as hydrocephalus, accompanied by defects in adult neurogenesis and mucociliary disorder in the airway system. Here we show that Mcidas, which is mutated in human mucociliary clearance disorder, and GemC1 (Gmnc or Lynkeas), previously implicated in cell cycle progression, are key regulators of multiciliated ependymal cell generation in the mouse brain. Overexpression and knockdown experiments show that Mcidas and GemC1 are sufficient and necessary for cell fate commitment and differentiation of radial glial cells to multiciliated ependymal cells. Furthermore, we show that GemC1 and Mcidas operate in hierarchical order, upstream of Foxj1 and c-Myb transcription factors, which are known regulators of ependymal cell generation, and that Notch signaling inhibits GemC1 and Mcidas function. Our results suggest that Mcidas and GemC1 are key players in the generation of multiciliated ependymal cells of the adult neurogenic niche.

Multiciliated cells are terminally differentiated, post-mitotic cells that form hundreds of motile cilia on their apical surface. Defects in multiciliated cells lead to disease, including mucociliary clearance disorders that result from ciliated cell disfunction in airways. The pathway controlling multiciliogenesis, however, remains poorly characterized. We showed that GemC1, previously implicated in cell cycle control, is a central regulator of ciliogenesis. GemC1 is specifically expressed in ciliated epithelia. Ectopic expression of GemC1 is sufficient to induce early steps of multiciliogenesis in airway epithelial cells ex vivo, upregulating McIdas and FoxJ1, key transcriptional regulators of multiciliogenesis. GemC1 directly transactivates the McIdas and FoxJ1 upstream regulatory sequences, and its activity is enhanced by E2F5 and inhibited by Geminin. GemC1-knockout mice are born with airway epithelia devoid of multiciliated cells. Our results identify GemC1 as an essential regulator of ciliogenesis in the airway epithelium and a candidate gene for mucociliary disorders.

A distinct combination of transcription factors elicits the acquisition of a specific fate and the initiation of a differentiation program. Multiciliated cells (MCCs) are a specialized type of epithelial cells that possess dozens of motile cilia on their apical surface. Defects in cilia function have been associated with ciliopathies that affect many organs, including brain and airway epithelium. Here we show that the geminin coiled-coil domain-containing protein 1 GemC1 (also known as Lynkeas) regulates the transcriptional activation of p73, a transcription factor central to multiciliogenesis. Moreover, we show that GemC1 acts in a trimeric complex with transcription factor E2F5 and tumor protein p73 (officially known as TP73), and that this complex is important for the activation of the p73 promoter. We also provide in vivo evidence that GemC1 is necessary for p73 expression in different multiciliated epithelia. We further show that GemC1 regulates multiciliogenesis through the control of chromatin organization, and the epigenetic marks/tags of p73 and Foxj1. Our results highlight novel signaling cues involved in the commitment program of MCCs across species and tissues. This article has an associated First Person interview with the first author of the paper.

To ensure that the genetic material is accurately passed down to daughter cells during mitosis, dividing cells must duplicate their chromosomes and centrosomes once and only once per cell cycle. The same key steps-licensing, duplication, and segregation-control both the chromosome and the centrosome cycle, which must occur in concert to safeguard genome integrity. Aberrations in genome content or centrosome numbers lead to genomic instability and are linked to tumorigenesis. Such aberrations, however, can also be part of the normal life cycle of specific cell types. Multiciliated cells best exemplify the deviation from a normal centrosome cycle. They are post-mitotic cells which massively amplify their centrioles, bypassing the rule for once-per-cell-cycle centriole duplication. Hundreds of centrioles dock to the apical cell surface and generate motile cilia, whose concerted movement ensures fluid flow across epithelia. The early steps that control the generation of multiciliated cells have lately started to be elucidated. Geminin and the vertebrate-specific GemC1 and McIdas are distantly related coiled-coil proteins, initially identified as cell cycle regulators associated with the chromosome cycle. Geminin is required to ensure once-per-cell-cycle genome replication, while McIdas and GemC1 bind to Geminin and are implicated in DNA replication control. Recent findings highlight Geminin family members as early regulators of multiciliogenesis. GemC1 and McIdas specify the multiciliate cell fate by forming complexes with the E2F4/5 transcription factors to switch on a gene expression program leading to centriole amplification and cilia formation. Positive and negative interactions among Geminin family members may link cell cycle control to centriole amplification and multiciliogenesis, acting close to the point of transition from proliferation to differentiation. We review key steps of centrosome duplication and amplification, present the role of Geminin family members in the centrosome and chromosome cycle, and discuss links with disease.

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