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Activity and expression pattern of cyclin-dependent kinase 5 in the embryonic mouse nervous system.

Cyclin-dependent kinase 5 (cdk5) was originally isolated on the basis of its close primary sequence homology to the human cdc2 serine/threonine kinase, the prototype of the cyclin-dependent kinases. While kinase activities of both cdc2 and cdk2 are detected in proliferating cells and are essential for cells to progress through the key transition points of the cell cycle, cdk5 kinase activity has been observed only in lysates of adult brain. In this study, we compared the activity and expression of cdk5 with that of cdc2 and cdk2 in the embryonic mouse forebrain. The expression and activity of cdk5 increased progressively as increasing numbers of cells exited the proliferative cycle. In contrast, the expression and activity of cdc2 and cdk2 were maximum at gestational day 11 (E11) when the majority of cells were proliferating and fell to barely detectable levels at E17 at the end of the cytogenetic period. Immunohistochemical studies showed that cdk5 is expressed in postmitotic neurons but not in glial cells or mitotically active cells. Expression of cdk5 was concentrated in fasciculated axons of postmitotic neurons. In contrast to other cell division cycle kinases to which it is closely related, cdk5 appears not to be expressed in dividing cells in the developing brain. These observations suggest that cdk5 may have a role in neuronal differentiation but not in the cell division cycle in the embryonic nervous system.

Animals↗

Tropoelastin gene expression in individual vascular smooth muscle cells. Relationship to DNA synthesis during vascular development and after arterial injury.

After vascular injury, quiescent adult smooth muscle cells (SMCs) revert to a more immature synthetic-state phenotype concomitant with the onset of cell replication. The relationship between SMC proliferation and the reexpression of genes characteristic of immature SMCs (eg,tropoelastin [TE]), on an individual cell basis, has not been determined. Using a combined bromodeoxyuridine (BrdU) immunocytochemistry-TE in situ hybridization technique, we determined the relationship between DNA synthesis and TE gene expression in the rat vascular wall during development of the aortic media (embryonic days 13 to 18), low but detectable levels of TE expression occurred equally in both replicating and nonreplicating SMCs. TE message levels dramatically increased in the late fetal and early postnatal periods (fetal day 19 to 1 month postpartum), after a precipitous drop in SMC replication, and then decreased to undetectable levels by postpartum day 60. After a balloon catheter injury in the adult, a developmental sequence of SMC replication followed by TE gene expression was reiterated in both the media and in the developing neointima. On an individual cell basis, adult SMCs replicating after injury expressed little or no TE message; detectable TE gene expression occurred only in nonreplicating SMCs. The most important implications of these data are that (1) adult SMCs replicating after injury appear to revert to a pre-elastogenic embryonic phenotype; (2) maximal TE expression occurs in SMCs only after the cessation of cell replication; and (3) in both the media and the neointima, adult SMCs responding to injury undergo temporarily sequential changes in phenotype reflective of SMC development.

Animals↗

Vascular cells.

Embryonic stem (ES) cells are cells derived from the inner cell mass of a blastocyst stage embryo. These self-renewing multipotent cells are able to differentiate to the three embryonic germ layers, the endoderm, ectoderm, and mesoderm, and are thus able to produce virtually all cell types. The ES cell capacity to generate various cell types has been studied extensively, and exploitation of ES cell characteristics allowed the production of several differentiated cell types of multiple tissues. Moreover, the process of ES cell differentiation provides a unique opportunity to observe early embryonic developmental events that are unattainable in the embryo itself. This chapter addresses the in vitro differentiation procedure of endothelial and vascular smooth muscle cells from human ES cells, with reference to similar studies performed in mouse and nonhuman primate ES cells, and provides several tools for the detailed characterization of differentiated cells.

Animals↗

Developmental biology of olfactory sensory neurons.

Proliferation, differentiation and death of olfactory neurons occur continually, even in adult animals. New data suggest that growth factors regulate the rate of cell proliferation. Early growth of olfactory axons in embryonic development is accompanied by the migration of epithelial cells from the olfactory placode toward the presumptive olfactory bulb. Maturation and ciliogenesis at the dendritic end of the cell is apparently dependent on a signal(s) from the bulb. The total life span of the neuron depends on maintenance of contact with the bulb. Olfactory life span is normally variable but is curtailed substantially in the absence of the bulb.

Animals↗

Medial preoptic sexual dimorphisms in the guinea pig. II. An investigation of medial preoptic neurogenesis.

Neurogenesis was studied in the medial preoptic area of the guinea pig by the method of tritiated thymidine autoradiography. Eight cytoarchitectonic divisions were examined, 4 of which display sexual dimorphism and 4 that do not. Neurogenesis in the nonsexually dimorphic divisions was found to end at embryonic day (E) 27, while in each of the sexually dimorphic divisions neurogenesis continued after this and persisted until at least E31 in the central compact and principal portions of the medial preoptic nucleus. Since the testes become active at E25 in the guinea pig (Resko, 1970), it is possible that gonadal secretions influence the proliferation and subsequent developmental processes of neurons destined for the sexually dimorphic nuclei.

Animals↗

Subsets of retinal progenitors display temporally regulated and distinct biases in the fates of their progeny.

Cell fate determination in the developing vertebrate retina is characterized by the sequential generation of seven classes of cells by multipotent progenitor cells. Despite this order of genesis, more than one cell type is generated at any time; for example, in the rat, several cell types are born during the prenatal period, while others are born postnatally. In order to examine whether there are classes of progenitor cells with distinct developmental properties contributing to this developmental progression, we examined antigen expression in progenitor cells during rat retinal development. Two markers of amacrine and horizontal cells, the VC1.1 epitope and syntaxin, were found to be expressed on a subset of progenitors in a temporally regulated manner that closely paralleled the birthdays of these cell types. In order to investigate which cell types were produced by the progenitors expressing these markers, fluorescent latex microspheres covalently coupled to VC1.1 antibodies were used to indelibly label VC1.1+ progenitor cells and their progeny. Early in retinal development, VC1.1+ progenitors generated a high percentage of amacrine and horizontal cells, but no cone photoreceptors. During this same period, a comparable number of cone photoreceptors were generated by VC1.1- progenitors. In the late embryonic and early postnatal period, VC1.1+ progenitors continued to generate predominantly amacrine cells, but also gave rise to an increasing number of rod photoreceptors. These findings demonstrate that expression of these two markers by progenitors is highly correlated with a bias towards the production of amacrine and horizontal cells. The fact that subsets of progenitors with temporally regulated and distinct biases are intermingled within the retinal neuroepithelium provides a basis for understanding how different cell types are generated both simultaneously and in a particular order by multipotent progenitors during retinal development.

Aging↗

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) accelerates differentiation of murine preimplantation embryos in vitro.

2,3,7,8-Tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) is a potent teratogen in several animal species, especially during the period of organogenesis. The purpose of this study was to test the hypothesis that TCDD has direct effects on the earliest stages of murine embryonic development, namely the preimplantation stages. Three endpoints were measured: 1) embryo cell number, a measure of embryo viability, 2) competitive embryonic cell proliferation utilizing chimeric embryos, another measure of embryo viability, and 3) cavitation rate, a functional measure of trophectoderm differentiation. Neither embryo cell numbers nor competitive embryonic cell proliferation (chimera assay) were affected by TCDD, either when the mother was dosed in vivo (prior to fertilization), or when 2-cell embryos were dosed in vitro. However, cavitation rates of in vitro-dosed embryos, in the presence of 10% fetal bovine serum, were significantly higher for TCDD than controls, suggesting that TCDD accelerated differentiation of murine preimplantation embryos. Taken together, these results demonstrate that: 1) TCDD can act directly on the murine preimplantation embryo, and 2) TCDD's actions are primarily on accelerated differentiation and not on embryo viability. To our knowledge, this is the earliest stage of mammalian development during which TCDD has been shown to exert an effect.

Animals↗

Early embryonic lethality caused by targeted disruption of the mouse thioredoxin gene.

Thioredoxins belong to a widely distributed group of small proteins with strong reducing activities mediated by a consensus redox-active dithiol (Cys-Gly-Pro-Cys). Thioredoxin was first isolated as a hydrogen donor for enzymatic synthesis of deoxyribonucleotides by ribonucleotide reductase in Escherichia coli. Recent studies have revealed a variety of roles that thioredoxin plays in transcription, growth control, and immune function. In this report, we describe the phenotype of mice carrying a targeted disruption of the thioredoxin gene (Txn). Heterozygotes are viable, fertile, and appear normal. In contrast, homozygous mutants die shortly after implantation, and the concepti were resorbed prior to gastrulation. When preimplantation embryos were placed in culture, the inner cell mass cells of the homozygous embryos failed to proliferate. These results indicate that Txn expression is essential for early differentiation and morphogenesis of the mouse embryo.

Animals↗

Inhibition of mouse embryo cleavage by a factor present in the human preovulatory follicular fluid.

Human follicular fluids (hFF) inhibited the in vitro cleavage of mouse embryo and fertilized oocytes. This inhibitory effect occurred at all stages of embryonal development and was reversible at low concentrations of FF. Gel chromatography of FF revealed inhibitory activity in two fractions, corresponding to mol wt of 20,000 and 50,000 daltons. This factor(s) might contain peptide components, since it was activated by heat treatment and trypsin digestion. In spontaneous cycles, late follicular phase hFF had significantly higher inhibitory activity than early follicular phase hFF. There was no significant difference in inhibitory activity of hFF aspirated from patients treated with clomiphene citrate alone, a combination of clomiphene citrate and gonadotropins, or gonadotropins alone. There was a positive correlation between hFF inhibitory activity and hFF estradiol and a negative correlation with progesterone in individual FF samples. These findings suggest that the hFF inhibitory activity of mouse embryo cleavage correlates with the differentiation state of the granulosa cells.

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CD30 and its ligand: possible role in regulation of teratoma stem cells.

Like the oocyte, the cells of the early embryo, and primordial germ cells, human teratocarcinoma stem cells are pluripotent, capable of giving rise to a wide range of somatic and extraembryonic tissues. Growth factors which regulate the growth of multipotent stem cells in the mouse have been identified, but none of these have been shown conclusively to have similar effects on human or primate multipotent stem cells. CD30 is a member of the tumour necrosis factor receptor superfamily with a restricted pattern of tissue distribution, limited to immune cells, decidual tissue, and human embryonal carcinoma: in common with other embryonal carcinoma markers, CD30 is found in foci of cells in a sub-population of seminomas. CD30 ligand is a transmembrane protein, structurally related to tumour necrosis superfamily members TNF alpha, TNF beta, and CD40. CD30 ligand is expressed by T and B lymphocytes, macrophages, and a variety of normal haematopoietic cells and tumours derived from them, and exerts pleiotropic effects on normal and malignant lymphoid cells, including death, differentiation, or cell division. Studies on cultured cell lines derived from human embryonal carcinomas and yolk sac carcinomas confirm CD30 expression in the former but not the latter, and show that CD30 expression is down-regulated during stem cell differentiation in vitro. Transcripts for CD30 ligand are found at highest levels in yolk sac carcinoma cell lines, but are also found in embryonal carcinoma. CD30 ligand protein is detected in yolk sac carcinoma and nullipotent embryonal carcinoma cell lines. Exogenous CD30 ligand has no effect on multipotent human stem cell growth in vitro. However, the receptor-ligand pair may function in autocrine regulation of embryonal carcinoma stem cells. CD30 and its ligand are candidate stem cell identity factors, juxtacrine regulators whose sole function is to identify a cell's position in a developmental hierarchy.

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The E1A transcriptional control region is efficiently activated in proliferating tissues of transgenic mice.

To study the in vivo regulation of the adenovirus E1A transcriptional regulatory region in transgenic mice, we have constructed two hybrid genes in which the viral control element regulates the expression of the CAT and the lacZ reporter gene. The fusion constructs were introduced into the mouse germline. The expression of the transgenes were monitored during embryogenesis and during postnatal development as well as in adult organs. We show that the E1A regulatory region is recognized and activated in undifferentiated cells during early embryonic cleavage, in the morula, in the inner cell mass and in the trophectoderm of the blastocyst. Transcription initiation at the E1A promoter leads to higher marker gene expression in proliferative centers in postimplantation embryos at the beginning of the neural tube closure. Analysing marker gene expression during postnatal development, a correlation of transcriptional activity of the E1A regulatory region and cell proliferation could be demonstrated. The expression profile of the transgene in different adult organs parallels with DNA synthesis. Marker gene expression was high in cells of organs known to have a high mitotic rate, such as the intestine, the stomach, the skin and the bone marrow, whereas little activity of the E1A control region was observed in the post-proliferative brain. These results are consistent with the finding that activation of the viral cis-regulating elements dramatically increased in the kidney after mitotic stimulation by folic acid. These observations strongly suggests a cell cycle regulated expression from the E1A enhancer/promoter in the absence of the E1A autoregulatory proteins in the living animal.

Adenovirus E1A Proteins↗

Programmed cell death is a universal feature of embryonic and postnatal neuroproliferative regions throughout the central nervous system.

During central nervous system (CNS) development, programmed cell death (PCD) has been viewed traditionally as a fate reserved for differentiating neurons that are in the process of making synaptic connections. Recent studies in the embryonic cerebral cortex (Blaschke et al. [1996] Development 122:1165-1174), however, have shown that many neuroblasts in the proliferative ventricular zone undergo PCD as well and that this likely represents a novel form distinct from that found in regions of postmitotic neurons. To determine the commonality of this form of PCD throughout the CNS, the prevalence of dying cells identified by in situ end labeling plus (ISEL +; Blaschke et al. [1996]) was determined within populations of proliferating neuroblasts that were identified by rapid bromodeoxyuridine incorporation. Based on this approach, dying cells were observed to be a common feature of all proliferative neuroblast populations examined. In addition, when ISEL+ was combined with in situ hybridization for postmitotic neural gene-1 (png-1; Weiner and Chun [1997] J. Comp. Neurol. 381:130-142), which identifies newly postmitotic neurons, a positive correlation was found between the start of differentiation and the onset of PCD. These data indicate that PCD in neuroblast proliferative zones is a universal feature of nervous system development. Moreover, cell death represents a prominent cell fate that may be linked to mechanisms of differentiation.

Aging↗

Cell determination and regulation during development of neuroblasts and neurones in grasshopper embryo.

The embryonic development of the central nervous system (CNS) involves the generation of an enormous diversity of cellular types arranged and interconnected in a remarkably precise pattern. In each hemisegment of the grasshopper embryo, the ectoderm generates a stereotyped pattern of 30 neuronal precursor cells, called neuroblasts (Fig. 1). Each of these stem cells makes a stereotyped contribution of 6-100 progeny to the approximately 1,000 different neurones, each cell identifiable according to its unique morphology, physiology and biochemistry. What are the contributions of cell interactions and cell lineage to the generation of this diversity and specificity of identified neurones in the grasshopper CNS? Here we report on cell ablations with a laser microbeam at different stages of development. Our results suggest the importance of cell-cell interactions in the determination of ectodermal cells to become identified neuroblasts. However, once a neuroblast begins to divide, then cell lineage appears to play an important role in the determination of its stereotyped family of neuronal progeny. Furthermore, cell-specific interactions continue to play an important role as neurones, according to their mitotic ancestry, recognize and interact with other differentiating neurones in their environment.

Animals↗

Specific and redundant functions of retinoid X Receptor/Retinoic acid receptor heterodimers in differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis of F9 embryonal carcinoma cells.

We have generated F9 murine embryonal carcinoma cells in which either the retinoid X receptor (RXR)alpha and retinoic acid receptor (RAR)alpha genes or the RXRalpha and RARgamma genes are knocked out, and compared their phenotypes with those of wild-type (WT), RXRalpha-/-, RARalpha-/-, and RARgamma-/- cells. RXRalpha-/-/ RARalpha-/- cells were resistant to retinoic acid treatment for the induction of primitive and parietal endodermal differentiation, as well as for antiproliferative and apoptotic responses, whereas they could differentiate into visceral endodermlike cells, as previously observed for RXRalpha-/- cells. In contrast, RXRalpha-/-/RARgamma-/- cells were defective for all three types of differentiation, as well as antiproliferative and apoptotic responses, indicating that RXRalpha and RARgamma represent an essential receptor pair for these responses. Taken together with results obtained by treatment of WT and mutant F9 cells with RAR isotype- and panRXR-selective retinoids, our observations support the conclusion that RXR/ RAR heterodimers are the functional units mediating the retinoid signal in vivo. Our results also indicate that the various heterodimers can exert both specific and redundant functions in differentiation, proliferation, and apoptosis. We also show that the functional redundancy exhibited between RXR isotypes and between RAR isotypes in cellular processes can be artifactually generated by gene knockouts. The present approach for multiple gene targeting should allow inactivation of any set of genes in a given cell.

Animals↗

Effect of insulin-like growth factor I and its interaction with gonadotropins on in vitro maturation and embryonic development, cell proliferation, and biosynthetic activity of cumulus-oocyte complexes and granulosa cells in buffalo.

In this study we have examined the effect of insulin like growth factor I (IGF-I) and its interaction with gonadotropins in the presence or absence of granulosa cell coculture on in vitro oocyte maturation (IVM) and their subsequent embryonic development in buffalo. We also have examined the role of IGF-I alone or in combination with gonadotropins on DNA synthesis, steroidogenesis, and protein synthesis of cumulus-oocytes complexes (COCs) and granulosa cells. Results showed that IGF-I stimulates oocytes maturation in a dose-dependent manner, with maximal effect at a dose of 100 ng/ml (P < 0.05). IGF-I showed positive interaction with follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH) in the presence or absence of granulosa cells on meiotic maturation and synergistically enhanced DNA synthesis, protein synthesis, and steroidogenesis in the presence of granulosa cells. This synergistic effect is mainly caused by the increase of IGF-I receptors in granulosa cells by FSH, as evident by [125I]IGF-I binding study. Luteinizing hormone (LH), however, was found to suppress IGF-I and IGF-I + FSH stimulated oocyte maturation. Addition of LH to cultures containing IGF-I + FSH, on the contrary, caused a significant increase in oocyte maturation when cocultured with granulosa cells. Addition of IGF-I during IVM significantly improve cleavage and blastocyst development rate over the control group. However, there was no cumulative effect when IGF-I and gonadotropins were present together. Addition of granulosa cells during IVM, however, enhanced blastocyst development in the IGF-I + FSH and IGF-I + FSH + LH groups. Our results demonstrated that IGF-I is a major follicular factor responsible for stimulating oocyte maturation in the buffalo. Interaction between IGF-I and FSH suggests that they seem to act synergistically as an autocrine and paracrine regulator of granulosa cells and therefore together promote mitosis, steroidogenesis, and protein synthesis.

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Sequential myofibrillar breakdown accompanies mitotic division of mammalian cardiomyocytes.

The contractile tissue of the heart is composed of individual cardiomyocytes. During mammalian embryonic development, heart growth is achieved by cell division while at the same time the heart is already exerting its essential pumping activity. There is still some debate whether the proliferative activity is carried out by a less differentiated, stem cell-like type of cardiomyocytes or whether embryonic cardiomyocytes are able to perform both of these completely different dynamic tasks, contraction and cell division. Our analysis of triple-stained specimen of cultured embryonic cardiomyocytes and of whole mount preparations of embryonic mouse hearts by confocal microscopy revealed that differentiated cardiomyocytes are indeed able to proliferate. However, to go through cell division, a disassembly of the contractile elements, the myofibrils, has to take place. This disassembly occurs in two steps with Z-disk and thin (actin)-filament-associated proteins getting disassembled before disassembly of the M-bands and the thick (myosin) filaments happens. After cytokinesis reassembly of the myofibrillar proteins to their mature cross-striated pattern can be seen. Another interesting observation was that the cell-cell contacts remain seemingly intact during division, probably reflecting the requirement of intact integration sites of the individual cells in the contractile tissue. Our results suggest that embryonic cardiomyocytes have developed an interesting strategy to deal with their major cytoskeletal elements, the myofibrils, during mitosis. The complex disassembly-reassembly process might also provide a mechanistic explanation, why cardiomyocytes cede to divide postnatally.

Actinin↗