Search PubMed⌕ Search

SEARCH · Search PubMed

Results for “IMAGINATION”

Search indexed PubMed citations on genomics, clinical trials, systematic reviews and public health. Explore titles, authors and supplied subject terms, then open the PubMed record.

Quote a phrase for an exact phrase match. Source license links do not imply unrestricted reuse.

At least 631 records · Page 35Linked to original sources

Imaginal disc abnormalities in lethal mutants of Drosophila.

Late lethal mutants of Drosophila melanogaster, dying after the larval stage of development, were isolated. The homozygous mutant larvae were examined for abnormal imaginal disc morphology, and the discs were injected into normal larval hosts to test their capacities to differentiate into adult structures. In about half of the mutants analyzed, disc abnormalities were found. Included among the abnormalities were missing discs, small discs incapable of differentiating, morphologically normal discs with limited capacities for differentiation, and discs with homeotic transformations. In some mutants all discs were affected, and in others only certain discs. The most extreme abnormal phenotype is a class of "discless" mutants. The viability of these mutant larvae indicates that the discs are essential only for the development of an adult and not of a larva. The late lethals are therefore a major source of mutants for studying the genetic control of disc formation.

Abnormalities, Drug-Induced↗

Genetic analysis of cell heredity in imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster.

Somatic crossing-over was used in heterozygous Drosophila melanogaster to effect clonal homozygosity for three mutants (h, Hw, ac). In these mutants, one type of process, chaetae, replaces another type, trichomes, in specific patterns on the adult fly. Heterozygous individuals were irradiated at different larval or pupal ages with x-rays and the somatic crossing-over was identified in the adult cuticle by genetically coupled mutants serving as cell markers of chaetae and trichomes. Induction of homozygosis more than 8 hr before puparium formation resulted in autonomous differentiation of the mutant pattern in the homozygous patch of tissue for the three mutants tested; homozygosis induced within 8 hr of puparium formation was not followed by expression of the corresponding genotype. 8 hr before puparium formation, each cell type still has to divide twice before metamorphosis and differentiation. Thus, the genetically conditioned decision of a specific cell to differentiate either a chaeta or a trichome is made during the growth of the wing imaginal disc and is transmitted clonally to descendant cells. Once this decision has been made, subsequent changes in the genotype of the cell or of its daughters are not material to the fate of the cell. We introduce the term "perdurance" to designate the persistence of a cellular developmental fate for several cell generations after the loss of the genetic basis for that cellular development.

Animals↗

Aging and its relation to cell growth and differentiation in Drosophila imaginal discs: developmental response to growth restricting conditions.

The development of Drosophila organ discs can be arrested by culturing them in adult male flies. These aged discs lose some of their differentiation competence and form incomplete imaginal structures. The more advanced the aging, the greater the loss of competence. Discs made to differentiate prematurely show deficiencies similar to aged discs. The age-induced defects can be repaired in a larval milieu. Special hormonal conditions, but not cell multiplication, are apparently involved in the recovery process.

Aging↗

Effect of insect hormones on RNA polymerases of mass-isolated imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster cultured in vitro.

Four chromatographically separable DNA-dependent RNA polymerases (nucleosidetriphosphate:RNA nucleotidyltransferase; EC 2.7.7.6) were partially purified from imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster. Their properties are similar to those described for RNA polymerases I and II isolated from other eukaryotes. In vitro incubation of discs with beta-ecdysone, juvenile hormone, or cycloheximide resulted in increased activity of RNA polymerase I. The increase was irreversible with beta-ecdysone incubation and removal but reversible with juvenile hormone incubation and removal. With beta-ecdysone, the rate of the increase in polymerase I activity paralleled the kinetics of ecdysone binding to discs and increases in the rate of precursor incorporation into RNA. A model to explain the increased acticity of RNA polymerase I is presented.

Amanitins↗

Ecdysteroid receptors in imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster.

[3H]Ponasterone A (PNA) of high specific activity has been used to identify and begin characterization of ecdysteroid (formerly called ecdysone) receptors in cytoplasmic and nuclear fractions of imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster. The equilibrium Kd of the observed macromolecular binding, 3--4 X 10(-9) M PNA, is in good agreement with the minimal concentration required for induction of complete morphogenesis in vitro, 4.2 X 10(-9) M PNA. Binding is analog specific and has kinetics consistent with a role in hormone response. On gentle homogenization, less than 5% of the binding capacity of the cell is released as soluble receptor; the other 95% remains with the nuclear fraction. This nuclear fraction specifically binds [3H]PNA in vitro. Greater than 95% of nuclear PNA receptors are released by extraction with 0.3 M KCl. The binding properties of the nuclear receptors are indistinguishable from those of the cytosol fraction or of the whole cell.

Animals↗

Related cell-surface antigens expressed with positional specificity in Drosophila imaginal discs.

We have isolated three classes of monoclonal antibodies against Drosophila cell-surface antigens that are expressed with positional specificity in imaginal discs. Comparison of immunofluorescence patterns with the wing-disc fate map reveals that expression of the antigens is not directly related to the specific type of cuticular structure that a cell will make upon differentiation but depends on the position of the cell in the undifferentiated disc epithelium. On mature wing discs, each class of position-specific (PS) antibody binds nonuniformly with respect to the dorso-ventral compartment boundary, with PS1 antibodies binding primarily to dorsal cells and PS2 antibodies, to ventral cells. Antibodies of the different PS classes extract similar but nonidentical sets of large glycoproteins from cell lysates, and antibodies of the most general class, PS3, recognize the PS1 and PS2 antigens in addition to PS3-specific components. Thus, the distributions and molecular characteristics of the PS antigens suggest that the molecules are structurally and functionally related to one another.

Animals↗

Human tumorous imaginal disc 1 (TID1) associates with Trk receptor tyrosine kinases and regulates neurite outgrowth in nnr5-TrkA cells.

The human tumorous imaginal disc 1 (TID1) proteins including TID1(L) and TID1(S), members of the DnaJ domain protein family, are involved in multiple intracellular signaling pathways such as apoptosis induction, cell proliferation, and survival. Here we report that TID1 associates with the Trk receptor tyrosine kinases and regulates nerve growth factor (NGF)-induced neurite outgrowth in PC12-derived nnr5 cells. Binding assays and transfection studies showed that the carboxyl-terminal end of TID1 (residues 224-429) bound to Trk at the activation loop (Tyr(P)(683)-Tyr(684)(P)(684) in rat TrkA) and that TID1 was tyrosine phosphorylated by Trk both in yeast and in transfected cells. Moreover endogenous TID1 was also tyrosine phosphorylated by and co-immunoprecipitated with Trk in neurotrophin-stimulated primary rat hippocampal neurons. Overexpression studies showed that both TID1(L) and TID1(S) significantly facilitated NGF-induced neurite outgrowth in TrkA-expressing nnr5 cells possibly through a mechanism involving increased activation of mitogen-activated protein kinase. Consistently knockdown of endogenous TID1, mediated with specific short hairpin RNA, significantly reduced NGF-induced neurite growth in nnr5-TrkA cells. These data provide the first evidence that TID1 is a novel intracellular adaptor that interacts with the Trk receptor tyrosine kinases in an activity-dependent manner to facilitate Trk-dependent intracellular signaling.

Animals↗

Healthy imaginations: a social history of the epidemiology of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.

It is difficult to imagine Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health without the powerful descriptors of epidemiology. The statistical imagery of numerical tables, pie charts, and bar graphs have become a key element in the public presentation of Indigenous public health issues. Such quantitative measurements of health draw on the authority of neutral, objective science and are thus rarely questioned in terms of their social meaning. This paper traces the history of this imagery through the 20th century, providing a social account of epidemiological description. Historical notions such as social Darwinism, assimilation, and dangerous other are all seen to be woven into the epidemiological text. The enormous rise in the epidemiological description of Indigenous health problems in recent years needs to be analyzed as a social phenomenon and, in particular, as an aspect of emerging forms of governmentality. Finally, it is argued that such analyses are needed in order to promote an anthropology of epidemiology and to avoid limiting medical anthropology to applications within epidemiology.

Adult↗

Slave ethics and imagining critically applied anthropology in public health research.

For several years I considered myself a resident enemy alien of public health research. This polemical article explores this enemy alien subjectivity by looking at an ethnographic case showing how race is figured in public health research, and it asks what this subjectivity might suggest for a medical anthropology struggling to be both more public and interdisciplinary, and more fundamentally ethnological. As I imbue my enemy alien subjectivity with uniquely anthropological images and references, I ask medical anthropologists to reflect upon the specialized nature of a contemporary anthropological imagination and, while doing this, to look to the Nietzschean notion of slave ethics in order to engage with questions of how we might use this self-awareness to create various modes of"postcritical"practice in public health.

Anthropology, Cultural↗

Septate junctions in imaginal disks of Drosophila: a model for the redistribution of septa during cell rearrangement.

The organization of septate junctions during morphogenesis of imaginal disks is described from freeze-fracture replicas and thin sections with a view to understanding junction modulation during rearrangements of cells in epithelia. The septate junctions of each epithelial cell of the disk are distributed in a number of discrete domains equal to the number of neighboring cells. Individual septa traverse domains of contact between pairs of adjacent cells, turn downwards at the lateral boundary of the domain and run parallel to the intersection with a third cell. This arrangement leaves small channels at three-cell intersections that are occupied by specialized structures termed "tricellular plugs." Cell rearrangement involves a progressive change in the width of contact domains between adjacent cells, until old contacts are broken and new ones established. It is proposed that the septate junction adjusts to the changing width of domains by the compaction or extension of existing septa. This redistribution of septa theoretically allows a transepithelial barrier to be maintained during cell rearrangements. The applicability of this model to other epithelial tissues is discussed.

Animals↗

Biogenesis of Golgi stacks in imaginal discs of Drosophila melanogaster.

We provide a detailed description of Golgi stack biogenesis that takes place in vivo during one of the morphogenetic events in the lifespan of Drosophila melanogaster. In early third-instar larvae, small clusters consisting mostly of vesicles and tubules were present in epithelial imaginal disk cells. As larvae progressed through mid- and late-third instar, these larval clusters became larger but also increasingly formed cisternae, some of which were stacked. In white pupae, the typical Golgi stack was observed. We show that larval clusters are Golgi stack precursors by 1) localizing various Golgi-specific markers to the larval clusters by electron and immunofluorescence confocal microscopy, 2) driving this conversion in wild-type larvae incubated at 37 degrees C for 2 h, and 3) showing that this conversion does not take place in an NSF1 mutant (comt 17). The biological significance of this conversion became clear when we found that the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (ecdysone) is critically involved in this conversion. In its absence, Golgi stack biogenesis did not occur and the larval clusters remained unaltered. We showed that dGM130 and sec23p expression increases approximately three- and fivefold, respectively, when discs are exposed to ecdysone in vivo and in vitro. Taken together, these results suggest that we have developed an in vivo system to study the ecdysone-triggered Golgi stack biogenesis.

Animals↗

Myb controls G(2)/M progression by inducing cyclin B expression in the Drosophila eye imaginal disc.

The c-myb proto-oncogene product (c-Myb) is a transcriptional activator. Vertebrate c-Myb is a key regulator of the G(1)/S transition in cell cycle, while Drosophila Myb (dMyb) is important for the G(2)/M transition. Here we report that dMyb induces expression of cyclin B, a critical regulator of the G(2)/M transition, in Drosophila eye imaginal disc. In the wild-type eye disc, dmyb mRNA was expressed in the stripes both anterior and posterior to the morphogenetic furrow. Ectopic expression of C-terminal-truncated dMyb in the eye disc caused ectopic expression of cyclin B and the rough eye phenotype. This rough eye phenotype correlated with prolonged M phase, caused by overexpression of cyclin B. Cyclin B expression was lost in dmyb-deficient clones. In Schneider cells, the activity of the cyclin B promoter was dramatically reduced by loss of dMyb using the RNA interference method. Mutations of the multiple AACNG sequences in the cyclin B promoter also abolished the promoter activity. These results indicate that dMyb regulates the G(2)/M transition by inducing cyclin B expression via binding to its promoter.

Animals↗

Molecular genetic analysis of Drosophila ash2, a member of the trithorax group required for imaginal disc pattern formation.

The ash2 gene is a member of the trithorax group of genes whose products function to maintain active transcription of homeotic selector genes. Mutations in ash2 cause the homeotic transformations expected for a gene in this group but, in addition, cause a variety of pattern formation defects that are not necessarily expected. The ash2 gene is located in cytogenetic region 96A17-19 flanked by slowpoke and tolloid and is included in a cosmid that contains part of slowpoke. The ash2 transcript is 2.0 kb and is present throughout development. The ASH2 protein predicted from the nucleotide sequence of the open reading frame has a putative double zinc-finger domain, called a PHD finger, that is present not only in the products of other trithorax group genes such as TRX and ASH1, but also in the product of a Polycomb group gene, PCL. Polyclonal antibodies directed against ASH2 detect the protein in imaginal discs and in the nuclei of salivary gland and fat body cells. On immunoblots these affinity-purified antibodies detect a 70-kDa protein in larvae and a 53-kDa protein in pupae.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

The protein 4.1, ezrin, radixin, moesin (FERM) domain of Drosophila Coracle, a cytoplasmic component of the septate junction, provides functions essential for embryonic development and imaginal cell proliferation.

Coracle is a member of the Protein 4.1 superfamily of proteins, whose members include Protein 4.1, the Neurofibromatosis 2 tumor suppressor Merlin, Expanded, the ERM proteins, protein tyrosine phosphatases, and unconventional myosins. Recent evidence suggests that members of this family participate in cell signaling events, including those that regulate cell proliferation and the cytoskeleton. Previously, we demonstrated that Coracle protein is localized to the septate junction in epithelial cells and is required for septate junction integrity. Loss of coracle function leads to defects in embryonic development, including failure in dorsal closure, and to proliferation defects. In addition, we determined that the N-terminal 383 amino acids define an essential functional domain possessing membrane-organizing properties. Here we investigate the full range of functions provided by this highly conserved domain and find that it is sufficient to rescue all embryonic defects associated with loss of coracle function. In addition, this domain is sufficient to rescue the reduced cell proliferation defect in imaginal discs, although it is incapable of rescuing null mutants to the adult stage. This result suggests the presence of a second functional domain within Coracle, a notion supported by molecular characterization of a series of coracle alleles.

Alleles↗

Genetic modifier screens in Drosophila demonstrate a role for Rho1 signaling in ecdysone-triggered imaginal disc morphogenesis.

Drosophila adult leg development provides an ideal model system for characterizing the molecular mechanisms of hormone-triggered morphogenesis. A pulse of the steroid hormone ecdysone at the onset of metamorphosis triggers the rapid transformation of a flat leg imaginal disc into an immature adult leg, largely through coordinated changes in cell shape. In an effort to identify links between the ecdysone signal and the cytoskeletal changes required for leg morphogenesis, we performed two large-scale genetic screens for dominant enhancers of the malformed leg phenotype associated with a mutation in the ecdysone-inducible broad early gene (br1). From a screen of >750 independent deficiency and candidate mutation stocks, we identified 17 loci on the autosomes that interact strongly with br1. In a complementary screen of approximately 112,000 F1 progeny of EMS-treated br1 animals, we recovered 26 mutations that enhance the br1 leg phenotype [E(br) mutations]. Rho1, stubbloid, blistered (DSRF), and cytoplasmic Tropomyosin were identified from these screens as br1-interacting genes. Our findings suggest that ecdysone exerts its effects on leg morphogenesis through a Rho1 signaling cascade, a proposal that is supported by genetic interaction studies between the E(br) mutations and mutations in the Rho1 signaling pathway. In addition, several E(br) mutations produce unexpected defects in midembryonic morphogenetic movements. Coupled with recent evidence implicating ecdysone signaling in these embryonic morphogenetic events, our results suggest that a common ecdysone-dependent, Rho1-mediated regulatory pathway controls morphogenesis during the two major transitions in the life cycle, embryogenesis and metamorphosis.

Animals↗

The pineapple eye gene is required for survival of Drosophila imaginal disc cells.

Each ommatidium of the Drosophila eye is constructed by precisely 19 specified precursor cells, generated in part during a second mitotic wave of cell divisions that overlaps early stages of ommatidial cell specification. Homozygotes for the pineapple eye mutation lack sufficient precursor cells due to apoptosis during the period of fate specification. In addition development is delayed by apoptosis during earlier imaginal disc growth. Null alleles are recessive lethal and allelic to l(2)31Ek; heteroallelic combinations can show developmental delay, abnormal eye development, and reduced fertility. Mosaic clones autonomously show extensive cell death. The pineapple eye gene was identified and predicted to encode a novel 582-amino-acid protein. The protein contains a novel, cysteine-rich domain of 270 amino acids also found in predicted proteins of unknown function from other animals.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

Induction of an adaptive response in Drosophila imaginal disc cells exposed in vivo to low doses of alkylating agents.

The adaptive response of Drosophila larvae to three alkylating agents (ethyl methanesulfonate, methyl methanesulfonate and N-nitroso-N-ethylurea) has been studied in the wing spot test. The experimental procedure included a 24 h pretreatment of 2-day-old larvae with two different adaptive doses followed by a challenge dose applied until the end of development. The genotoxic effects were analysed in trans-heterozygous larvae for the third chromosome recessive markers multiple wing hairs (mwh) and flare (flr(3)). Genetic changes induced in somatic cells of the wing imaginal discs led to loss of heterozygosity, expressed as mutant clones of the genetic markers used. From our results it appears that the adaptive doses clearly reduce the frequency of mutant clones induced by the challenge dose. As far as we know, this is the first time that the existence of an adaptive response to alkylating agents after Drosophila larval treatment has been reported using the wing spot assay.

Alkylating Agents↗

Imagining the impossible: intact motor representations in hemiplegics.

Motor imagery is known to involve brain regions vital to the performance of motor skills including primary motor cortex. The present results show that, following cerebral vascular accidents (CVAs) affecting a variety of these regions, many adults with left or right upper-limb paralysis (i.e. hemiparesis/hemiplegia) retain the ability to accurately represent prehensile movements involving the impaired limb. This suggests that during the acute phase of recovery many CVA patients can use motor imagery to activate partially damaged motor networks; a process that may facilitate functional reorganization. This ability was, however, compromised in cases with right posterior parietal or left frontal lesions. This pattern is consistent with the hypothesis that imagined prehension, like actual reaching and grasping, involves a network of highly interconnected areas distributed throughout parietal and frontal cortices.

Adult↗