Mutations linked to loss of cell cycle control can render cells responsive to local differentiation cues

Cell behaviors such as survival, proliferation, and death are governed by a multitude of cues, both intrinsic and extrinsic. To test whether a wild-type environment could encourage the survival and/or differentiation of neuronal progenitor cells with impaired cell cycle progression, we transplanted cells from cdk1, dtl, slbp, fbxo5, ahctf1, gins2, hdac1, mcm5, ssrp1a, and rbbp6 mutant zebrafish embryos into wild-type embryos, creating chimeric zebrafish with mutant cells in the developing eye. We found that when cells from cdk1, dtl, slbp, gins2, mcm5, or rbbp6 mutants were transplanted into wild-type hosts, survival and/or differentiation was almost always compromised in a manner consistent with cell-autonomous cell death. Interestingly, we observed that fbxo5, ahctf1, hdac1, or ssrp1a mutant cells survived and sometimes exhibited signs of differentiation when grafted into wild-type eyes.