Abstract
Proper ectodermal patterning during human development requires previously identified transcription factors such as GATA3 and p63, as well as positional signalling from regional mesoderm1-6. However, the mechanism by which ectoderm and mesoderm factors act to stably pattern gene expression and lineage commitment remains unclear. Here we identify the protein Gibbin, encoded by the Xia-Gibbs AT-hook DNA-binding-motif-containing 1 (AHDC1) disease gene7-9, as a key regulator of early epithelial morphogenesis. We find that enhancer- or promoter-bound Gibbin interacts with dozens of sequence-specific zinc-finger transcription factors and methyl-CpG-binding proteins to regulate the expression of mesoderm genes. The loss of Gibbin causes an increase in DNA methylation at GATA3-dependent mesodermal genes, resulting in a loss of signalling between developing dermal and epidermal cell types. Notably, Gibbin-mutant human embryonic stem-cell-derived skin organoids lack dermal maturation, resulting in p63-expressing basal cells that possess defective keratinocyte stratification. In vivo chimeric CRISPR mouse mutants reveal a spectrum of Gibbin-dependent developmental patterning defects affecting craniofacial structure, abdominal wall closure and epidermal stratification that mirror patient phenotypes. Our results indicate that the patterning phenotypes seen in Xia-Gibbs and related syndromes derive from abnormal mesoderm maturation as a result of gene-specific DNA methylation decisions.