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Congenital diaphragmatic hernia (CDH) has been reported twice in individuals with a clinical diagnosis of Fraser syndrome, a genetic disorder that can be caused by recessive mutations affecting FREM2 and FRAS1. In the extracellular matrix, FREM2 and FRAS1 form a self-stabilizing complex with FREM1, a protein whose deficiency causes sac CDH in humans and mice. By sequencing FREM2 and FRAS1 in a CDH cohort, and searching online databases, we identified five individuals who carried recessive or double heterozygous, putatively deleterious variants in these genes which may represent susceptibility alleles. Three of these alleles were significantly enriched in our CDH cohort compared with ethnically matched controls. We subsequently demonstrated that 8% of Frem2(ne/ne) and 1% of Fras1(Q1263*/Q1263*) mice develop the same type of anterior sac CDH seen in FREM1-deficient mice. We went on to show that development of sac hernias in FREM1-deficient mice is preceded by failure of anterior mesothelial fold progression resulting in the persistence of an amuscular, poorly vascularized anterior diaphragm that is abnormally adherent to the underlying liver. Herniation occurs in the perinatal period when the expanding liver protrudes through this amuscular region of the anterior diaphragm that is juxtaposed to areas of muscular diaphragm. Based on these data, we conclude that deficiency of FREM2, and possibly FRAS1, are associated with an increased risk of developing CDH and that loss of the FREM1/FREM2/FRAS1 complex, or its function, leads to anterior sac CDH development through its effects on mesothelial fold progression.

Background: Fras1 encodes an extracellular matrix protein that is critical for the establishment of the epidermal basement membrane during gestation. In humans, mutations in FRAS1 cause Fraser Syndrome (FS), a pleiotropic condition with many clinical presentations such as limb, eye, kidney, and craniofacial deformations. Many of these defects are mimicked by loss of Fras1 in mice, and are preceded by the formation of epidermal blisters in utero. Results: In this study, we identified a novel ENU-derived rounded foot (rdf) mouse mutant with highly penetrant hindlimb soft-tissue syndactyly, among other structural defects. Mapping and sequencing revealed that rdf is a novel loss-of-function nonsense allele of Fras1 (Fras1rdf). Focusing on the limb, we found that the Fras1rdf syndactyly phenotype originates from loss of interdigital cell death (ICD). Despite normal expression of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) ligands and their receptors, the BMP downstream target gene Msx2, which is also necessary and sufficient to promote ICD, was down-regulated in the interdigital regions of Fras1rdf hindlimb buds. Conclusions: The close correlation between limb bud epidermal blistering, decreased Msx2 expression, and reduced ICD in the Fras1rdf hindlimb buds suggests that epithelium detachment from the mesenchyme may create a physical gap that interrupts the transmission of BMP, among other signals, resulting in soft tissue syndactyly. Developmental Dynamics 245:497–507, 2016. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

INTRODUCTION The lung, with its vast surface area, senses and responds to signals in inhaled air. Aberrant interactions between the lung and the environment underlie many diseases, including asthma. In vitro data show that pulmonary neuroendocrine cells (PNECs), a rare airway epithelial cell population, can act as chemosensors. Once stimulated in culture, they release dense core vesicles rich in neuropeptides, amines, and neurotransmitters. These bioactive molecules are capable of eliciting immune and physiological responses. A recent in vivo study by our group revealed that the proper development of PNECs into self-clustering units called neuroepithelial bodies is essential for restricting the number of immune cells in the naive lung. However, whether PNECs can function in vivo to translate exogenous airway signals such as allergens into the cascade of downstream responses is unknown. RATIONALE To test the hypothesis that PNECs act as sensors in the lung, we generated mouse mutants that lack PNECs by inactivating Ascl1 in the airway epithelium—i.e., mutants that were depleted of PNECs through genetic ablation. We exposed these mutants to either ovalbumin or house dust mites, following regimes of existing asthma models. We determined whether the mutants showed different asthmatic responses than controls. We elucidated the underlying mechanisms by identifying molecular effectors and cellular targets of PNECs. To complement the functional tests in mice, we investigated whether human asthma patients showed pathological changes in their PNECs. RESULTS Although normal at baseline, Ascl1 -mutant mice exhibited severely reduced goblet cell hyperplasia and immune cell numbers compared with controls after allergen challenge. In investigating possible molecular effectors, we found that several PNEC products were decreased in mutants relative to controls after allergen challenge, including calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) and γ-aminobutyric acid (GABA). In exploring possible cellular tar­gets, we found that innate lymphoid group 2 cells (ILC2s) were enriched at airway branch point junctions, similar to PNECs. The PNEC product CGRP stimulated ILC2 production of interleukin-5 in culture. Conversely, inactivation of the CGRP recep­tor gene Calcrl in ILC2s led to dampened immune responses to allergens. In contrast to CGRP, GABA did not increase ILC2 cytokine secretion. Rather, inactivation of GABA biogenesis led to defective goblet cell hyperplasia after allergen challenge, suggesting that GABA is required for this response in the airway epithelium. The instillation of a mixture of CGRP and GABA in Ascl1 mutants restored both immune cell increases and goblet cell hyperplasia after allergen challenge, indicating that these products are the primary molecular effectors of PNECs in vivo. Consistent with these results from mice, we found increased PNEC numbers and cluster sizes in human asthma patients, which may underlie the heightened response to allergens in these individuals. CONCLUSION Our results demonstrate that PNECs, despite being a rare population of cells in the airway, are critical for amplifying the airway allergen signal into mucosal type 2 responses. Specifically, PNECs act through their product GABA to stimulate airway epithelial mucus production. In parallel, PNECs act through another product, CGRP, to stimulate production of ILC2 cytokines, which in turn recruit downstream immune cells. PNECs and ILC2s form neuroimmunological modules at the airway branch points, which are also the sites where airway particles are enriched. Our findings indicate that the PNEC-ILC2 axis functions to sense inhaled inputs, such as allergens, and amplify them into lung outputs, such as the allergic asthma response.