LEON, S. | bioRxiv Science

bioRxiv2026

Transcriptional coupling of metabolism and cell mechanics controls humanneuroepithelium morphogenesis

Tissue morphogenesis integrates developmental programs with cell mechanics, yet the mechanisms coupling these processes remain poorly understood. We investigated this link during neuroepithelial morphogenesis in human iPSC-derived dorsal spinal organoids. We found that PAX3, a transcription factor whose loss causes neural tube defects, promotes force-bearing adherens junction assembly. It does so by driving apical clustering of N-cadherin complexes, thereby enabling neuroepithelial morphogenesis, a function conserved in the mouse neural tube. Transcriptomic, metabolomic, and functional analyses show that PAX3 sustains upper glycolysis and the associated mannose-dependent glycosylation pathways. Exogenous mannose rescues cadherin clustering and adherens junction mechanics following PAX3 loss, whereas inhibition of glycolysis or glycosylation recapitulates these defects. These findings establish mannose metabolism as a PAX3-regulated pathway conferring mechanical competence to developing tissues.

developmental biology↗

bioRxiv2025

A genetic screen reveals a key role for Reg1 in 2-deoxyglucose sensing and yeast AMPK inhibition

The yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae thrives in sugar-rich environments by rapidly consuming glucose and favoring alcoholic fermentation. This metabolic strategy is tightly regulated by glucose signaling pathways, particularly the glucose repression pathway, which prevents the expression of genes required for the utilization of alternative carbon source. Central to this regulatory network is the yeast ortholog of the heterotrimeric 5'AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK), which adjusts gene expression in response to glucose availability. The activity of the yeast AMPK complex is primarily regulated by the phosphorylation state of its catalytic subunit Snf1, a process orchestrated by a balance between upstream kinases and phosphatases. Among the latter, the Protein Phosphatase 1 (PP1) complex Reg1/Glc7 plays a critical role in repressing Snf1 activity under glucose-rich conditions. Despite its importance, the precise mechanism by which glucose availability leads to Snf1 inhibition remains incompletely understood. Evidence suggests that hexokinase 2 (Hxk2) participates in this pathway, potentially coupling the early steps of glucose metabolism to Snf1 signaling. Notably, the toxic glucose analog 2-deoxyglucose (2DG)- which is phosphorylated by Hxk2 but not further metabolized-mimics glucose in its ability to repress Snf1, implicating glucose or 2DG phosphorylation as a key regulatory signal. In this study, we explore the molecular basis of 2DG resistance in yeast through a large-scale genetic screen. The identified mutations confer resistance either by reducing 2DG phosphorylation (e.g., mutations in HXK2) or by enhancing constitutive Snf1 activity, via gain-of-function alleles in AMPK subunits or loss-of-function mutations in REG1 and GLC7. We describe a novel class of REG1 missense mutations, including reg1-W165G, that maintain normal basal Snf1 activity but fail to mediate 2DG-induced Snf1 inhibition, rendering cells effectively immune to 2DG toxicity. These findings position Reg1 as a central mediator in glucose sensing and further suggest that 2DG toxicity primarily results from aberrant Snf1 inactivation rather than a direct metabolic disturbance.

cell biology↗