Back

STAT3 regulates basal cell identity and morphogenesis during early esophageal development

Kariuki, S. W.; Mitani, Y.; Bailey, D. D.; Efe, G.; Tripathi, V. V.; Tekin, H.; Suzuki, K.; Que, J.; Gabre, J.; Cruz-Acuna, R.

2025-08-01 developmental biology
10.1101/2025.08.01.668154 bioRxiv
Show abstract

The transcription factor STAT3 plays broad roles in epithelial biology, yet its function in human esophageal development remains undefined. Using 2D and 3D human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived platforms, we investigated how STAT3 regulates esophageal epithelial differentiation. We find that STAT3 is dispensable for definitive endoderm and anterior foregut endoderm specification but becomes essential during the transition to esophageal progenitor cells (EPCs). Inhibition of STAT3, via CRISPR-mediated knockout or siRNA, impairs the expression of key EPC and differentiation markers, including TP63, and disrupts 3D organoid formation. These defects are accompanied by reduced epithelial proliferation. Notably, STAT3 is highly expressed in human fetal esophageal tissues and hiPSC-derived organoids, while its deletion in the developing mouse esophagus does not affect epithelial architecture, highlighting species-specific differences. Together, these findings identify STAT3 as a critical determinant of basal cell identity and epithelial morphogenesis, revealing a developmental checkpoint in early human esophageal lineage commitment.

Matching journals

The top 7 journals account for 50% of the predicted probability mass.

1
Stem Cell Reports
○ 130 papers in training set
Top 0.1%
13.0%
Similar papers in this journal
2
Nature Communications
○ 5641 papers in training set
Top 18%
9.7%
Similar papers in this journal
3
eLife
● 5828 papers in training set
Top 13%
7.9%
Similar papers in this journal
4
Cellular and Molecular Gastroenterology and Hepatology
○ 46 papers in training set
Top 0.2%
6.8%
Similar papers in this journal
5
Development
● 497 papers in training set
Top 1%
6.3%
Similar papers in this journal
6
Scientific Reports
○ 3612 papers in training set
Top 15%
5.5%
7
Cell Stem Cell
○ 62 papers in training set
Top 0.6%
2.8%
50% of probability mass above
8
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
● 2444 papers in training set
Top 21%
2.4%
9
Science Advances
● 1243 papers in training set
Top 16%
2.1%
10
npj Regenerative Medicine
○ 24 papers in training set
Top 0.3%
2.1%
11
Biology Open
● 156 papers in training set
Top 1%
2.1%
12
Developmental Cell
○ 196 papers in training set
Top 2%
2.1%
13
Cell Reports
○ 1498 papers in training set
Top 17%
1.9%
14
iScience
○ 1154 papers in training set
Top 17%
1.7%
15
Communications Biology
○ 993 papers in training set
Top 13%
1.7%
16
Stem Cell Research & Therapy
○ 30 papers in training set
Top 0.3%
1.7%
17
Cell Death & Differentiation
○ 48 papers in training set
Top 0.5%
1.7%
18
PLOS ONE
● 5266 papers in training set
Top 47%
1.7%
19
EMBO Reports
○ 263 papers in training set
Top 5%
1.1%
20
Disease Models & Mechanisms
139 papers in training set
Top 2%
1.1%
21
JCI Insight
● 277 papers in training set
Top 6%
1.0%
22
Stem Cells Translational Medicine
◐ 13 papers in training set
Top 0.3%
1.0%
23
Life Science Alliance
● 285 papers in training set
Top 7%
0.9%
24
Genes & Development
● 90 papers in training set
Top 2%
0.9%
25
Stem Cells
◐ 31 papers in training set
Top 0.7%
0.9%
26
Nature Biomedical Engineering
○ 47 papers in training set
Top 2%
0.9%
27
Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology
○ 71 papers in training set
Top 1%
0.6%
28
PLOS Biology
● 486 papers in training set
Top 13%
0.6%
29
Stem Cell Research
○ 16 papers in training set
Top 0.3%
0.6%
30
Cell Death Discovery
○ 58 papers in training set
Top 2%
0.6%

"Similar papers" are the closest papers from that journal in the model's embedding space. They show what the match is built on, but the ranking comes mostly from a classifier over the whole training set, not from these examples alone.