Haploinsufficiency of Meis homeobox 2 (MEIS2), encoding a transcriptional regulator, is associated with human cleft palate, and Meis2 inactivation leads to abnormal palate development in mice, implicating MEIS2 functions in palate development. However, its functional mechanisms remain unknown. Here we observed widespread MEIS2 expression in the developing palate in mice. Wnt1Cre -mediated Meis2 inactivation in cranial neural crest cells led to a secondary palate cleft. Importantly, about half of the Wnt1Cre ;Meis2f/f mice exhibited a submucous cleft, providing a model for studying palatal bone formation and patterning. Consistent with complete absence of palatal bones, the results from integrative analyses of MEIS2 by ChIP sequencing, RNA-Seq, and an assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing identified key osteogenic genes regulated directly by MEIS2, indicating that it plays a fundamental role in palatal osteogenesis. De novo motif analysis uncovered that the MEIS2-bound regions are highly enriched in binding motifs for several key osteogenic transcription factors, particularly short stature homeobox 2 (SHOX2). Comparative ChIP sequencing analyses revealed genome-wide co-occupancy of MEIS2 and SHOX2 in addition to their colocalization in the developing palate and physical interaction, suggesting that SHOX2 and MEIS2 functionally interact. However, although SHOX2 was required for proper palatal bone formation and was a direct downstream target of MEIS2, Shox2 overexpression failed to rescue the palatal bone defects in a Meis2-mutant background. These results, together with the fact that Meis2 expression is associated with high osteogenic potential and required for chromatin accessibility of osteogenic genes, support a vital function of MEIS2 in setting up a ground state for palatal osteogenesis.

Department of Cell and Molecular Biology Tulane University New Orleans Louisiana 70118

Department of Cell and Molecular Biology Tulane University New Orleans Louisiana 70118; West China School of Public Health and West China 4th Hospital Sichuan University Chengdu 610041 Sichuan China

Department of Developmental Biology Institute of Experimental Medicine of the Czech Academy of Sciences 14200 Praha Czech Republic

State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Department of Preventive Dentistry West China Hospital of Stomatology Sichuan University Chengdu 610041 Sichuan China

State Key Laboratory of Oral Diseases Department of Preventive Dentistry West China Hospital of Stomatology Sichuan University Chengdu 610041 Sichuan China; Department of Cell and Molecular Biology Tulane University New Orleans Louisiana 70118

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Meis2 controls skeletal formation in the hyoid region