Development, Growth and Differentiation This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader or to display this data on your own website or blog.

Temporal regulation of the generation of neuronal diversity in Drosophila
For the construction of complex neural networks, the generation of neurons and glia must be tightly regulated both spatially and temporally. One of the major issues in neural development is the generation of a large variety of neurons and glia over time from a relatively small number of neural stem cells. In Drosophila, neural stem cells, called neuroblasts (NBs), have been used as a useful model system to uncover the molecular and cellular machinery involved in the establishment of neural diversity. NBs divide asymmetrically and produce another self‐renewing progenitor cell and a differentiating cell. NBs are subdivided...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - December 21, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Tetsuo Yasugi, Takashi Nishimura Tags: Review Article Source Type: research

Molecular mechanism for cyclic generation of somites: Lessons from mice and zebrafish
The somite is the most prominent metameric structure observed during vertebrate embryogenesis, and its metamerism preserves the characteristic structures of the vertebrae and muscles in the adult body. During vertebrate somitogenesis, sequential formation of epithelialized cell boundaries generates the somites. According to the “clock and wavefront model,” the periodical and sequential generation of somites is achieved by the integration of spatiotemporal information provided by the segmentation clock and wavefront. In the anterior region of the presomitic mesoderm, which is the somite precursor, the orchestration betw...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - December 17, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Taijiro Yabe, Shinji Takada Tags: Review Article Source Type: research

Transcriptional regulation of insect steroid hormone biosynthesis and its role in controlling timing of molting and metamorphosis
The developmental transition from juvenile to adult is often accompanied by many systemic changes in morphology, metabolism, and reproduction. Curiously, both mammalian puberty and insect metamorphosis are triggered by a pulse of steroid hormones, which can harmonize gene expression profiles in the body and thus orchestrate drastic biological changes. However, understanding of how the timing of steroid hormone biosynthesis is regulated at the molecular level is poor. The principal insect steroid hormone, ecdysteroid, is biosynthesized from dietary cholesterol in the specialized endocrine organ called the prothoracic gland....
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - December 15, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Yuko S. Niwa, Ryusuke Niwa Tags: Review Article Source Type: research

Multiple phases in regulation of Nanog expression during pre‐implantation development
In this report, we traced the changes of Nanog expression in each cell in developing preimplantation mouse embryos through time‐lapse observation of Nanog‐GFP transgenic mouse embryos. The expression pattern of Nanog was classified into four phases depending on the developmental stage. Nanog expression started at very low levels during cleavage stages. It increased stochastically during the morula stage, but its expression level had no clear correlation with future cell fates. After the 32‐cell stage, when embryos form the blastocyst cavity, Nanog expression was upregulated mainly in ICM cells while it was repressed ...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - December 14, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Kouji Komatsu, Toshihiko Fujimori Tags: Original Article Source Type: research

Pou5f3.2‐induced proliferative state of embryonic cells during gastrulation of Xenopus laevis embryo
POU class V (POU‐V) transcription factors play the important role in maintenance of pluripotency and cell differentiation. Pou5f3.2 (Oct25), one of Xenopus POU‐V transcription factors, shows the zygotic expression prior to gastrulation. In order to know the molecular mechanism of pou5f3.2 expression at gastrula stage, we examined a responsiveness of pou5f3.2 to Nodal signaling. Animal cap assay demonstrated that Xnr2 activates the gene expression of pou5f3.2. In comparative analysis of the 5′‐flanking region of pou5f3.2 between Xenopus laevis and X. tropicalis, two conserved regions were detected within the flanki...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - December 14, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Eriko Nishitani, Chong Li, Jaehoon Lee, Hiroyo Hotta, Yuta Katayama, Masahiro Yamaguchi, Tsutomu Kinoshita Tags: Original Article Source Type: research

Intermittent hydrostatic pressure maintains and enhances the chondrogenic differentiation of cartilage progenitor cells cultivated in alginate beads
The objective of this study was to explore the effects of intermittent hydrostatic pressure (IHP) on the chondrogenic differentiation of cartilage progenitor cells (CPCs) cultivated in alginate beads. CPCs were isolated from the knee joint cartilage of rabbits, and infrapatellar fat pad‐derived stem cells (FPSCs) and chondrocytes (CCs) were included as the control cell types. Cells embedded in alginate beads were treated with IHP at 5 Mpa and 0.5 Hz for 4 h/day for 1, 2, or 4 weeks. The cells' migratory and proliferative capacities were evaluated using the scratch and Live/Dead assays, respectively. Hematoxylin and e...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - December 1, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Yang Li, Jianxin Zhou, Xiaofei Yang, Yiqiu Jiang, Jianchao Gui Tags: Original Article Source Type: research

Genetic oscillators in development
In development, morphogenetic processes are strictly coordinated in time. Cells in a developing tissue would need mechanisms for time‐keeping. One such time‐keeping mechanism is to use oscillations of gene expression. Oscillatory gene expression can be generated by transcriptional/translational feedback loops, usually referred to as a genetic oscillator. In this review article, we discuss genetic oscillators in the presence of developmental processes such as cell division, cell movement and cell differentiation. We first introduce the gene regulatory network for generating a rhythm of gene expression. We then discuss h...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - December 1, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Koichiro Uriu Tags: Review Article Source Type: research

Expansion of the neck reconstituted the shoulder–diaphragm in amniote evolution
The neck acquired flexibility through modifications of the head–trunk interface in vertebrate evolution. Although developmental programs for the neck musculoskeletal system have attracted the attention of evolutionary developmental biologists, how the heart, shoulder and surrounding tissues are modified during development has remained unclear. Here we show, through observation of the lateral plate mesoderm at cranial somite levels in chicken–quail chimeras, that the deep part of the lateral body wall is moved concomitant with the caudal transposition of the heart, resulting in the infolding of the expanded cervical lat...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - October 29, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Tatsuya Hirasawa, Satoko Fujimoto, Shigeru Kuratani Tags: Original Article Source Type: research

Issue Information
(Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation)
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - October 17, 2015 Category: Research Tags: Issue Information Source Type: research

Cover Photograph: Hippo signaling controls cell fates in preimplantation mouse embryos. Slightly different mechanisms operate in regulation of Hippo signaling between 16‐cell stage and early blastocyst stage with more than 32 cells. Panels show the confocal images of the 16‐cell (left panel) and early blastocyst (right panel) stage embryos stained with phosphorylated Ezrin/Radixin/Moesin (magenta), a marker for apical domain and cell polarization, and the Hippo pathway coactivator Yap (green). In the early blastocysts, cell position regulates cell polarization through the Par‐aPKC system, and cell polarity controls Hippo signaling. Therefore, all the outer cells are polarized and exhibit nuclear Yap. In contrast, at the 16‐cell stage, Par‐aPKC‐independent mechanism and asymmetric cell division are also involved in regulation of cell polarization. Therefore, some outer cells are apolar and show cytoplasmic Yap.
(Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation)
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - October 17, 2015 Category: Research Tags: Cover Image Source Type: research

Par‐aPKC‐dependent and ‐independent mechanisms cooperatively control cell polarity, Hippo signaling, and cell positioning in 16‐cell stage mouse embryos
In preimplantation mouse embryos, the Hippo signaling pathway plays a central role in regulating the fates of the trophectoderm (TE) and the inner cell mass (ICM). In early blastocysts with more than 32 cells, the Par‐aPKC system controls polarization of the outer cells along the apicobasal axis, and cell polarity suppresses Hippo signaling. Inactivation of Hippo signaling promotes nuclear accumulation of a coactivator protein, Yap, leading to induction of TE‐specific genes. However, whether similar mechanisms operate at earlier stages is not known. Here, we show that slightly different mechanisms operate in 16‐cell ...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - October 9, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Yoshikazu Hirate, Shino Hirahara, Ken‐ichi Inoue, Hiroshi Kiyonari, Hiroshi Niwa, Hiroshi Sasaki Tags: Original Article Source Type: research

Pea3 determines the isthmus region at the downstream of Fgf8‐Ras‐ERK signaling pathway
It has been shown that strong Fgf8 signal activates Ras‐ERK signaling pathway to determine metencephalon, which consists of rhombomere 1 (r1), where the cerebellum differentiates, and isthmus (r0). The present study was undertaken to check if Ets type transcription factor Pea3 functions downstream of Ras‐ERK signaling to determine metencephalon. Pea3 misexpression resulted in repression of Otx2 expression in the mesencephalon, induction of Gbx2 and Fgf8 expression in the mesencephalon, and differentiation of the trochlear neurons in the posterior mesencephalon. Fate change of the tectum to the cerebellum did not occur....
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - October 1, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Hidekiyo Harada, Minoru Omi, Tatsuya Sato, Harukazu Nakamura Tags: Original Article Source Type: research

NFI‐C2 temporal‐spatial expression and cellular localization pattern during tooth formation
In this study we performed in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry using isoform specific probes. We show the production of a NFI‐C2 peptide antibody, its characterization, the temporal‐spatial expression pattern of the NFI‐C2 protein during odontogenesis and sub‐cellular localization in dental cells. Moderate NFI‐C2 staining, as early as bud stage, was detected mostly in the condensing dental ectomesenchyme. This staining intensified within the dental pulp at later stages culminating in high expression in the dentin producing odontoblasts. The dental epithelium showed slight staining until cytodifferenti...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - October 1, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Ejvis Lamani, Jelica Gluhak‐Heinrich, Mary MacDougall Tags: Original Article Source Type: research

Hepatocyte differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem cells is modulated by stearoyl‐CoA desaturase 1 activity
Stearoyl‐CoA desaturase 1 (SCD1) plays important roles in organ development, glucose tolerance, insulin sensitivity, and cancer. Here, we examined the role of SCD1 for the differentiation of human induced pluripotent stem (hiPS) cells to liver cells by using drug inhibition and biochemical experiments. hiPS cells cultured in a pro‐hepatic medium were exposed to an SCD1 inhibitor at various stages throughout differentiation. Liver‐specific markers, specifically α‐fetoprotein, albumin and urea in conditioned medium, and hepatocyte nuclear factor 4α (HNF4α) and cytochrome P450 7A1 (CYP7A1) gene expressions and trig...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - October 1, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Yaghoub Rahimi, Amir Mehdizadeh, Hojjatollah Nozad Charoudeh, Mohammad Nouri, Kobra Valaei, Shabnam Fayezi, Masoud Darabi Tags: Original Article Source Type: research

Quantitative imaging with Fucci and mathematics to uncover temporal dynamics of cell cycle progression
Cell cycle progression is strictly coordinated to ensure proper tissue growth, development, and regeneration of multicellular organisms. Spatiotemporal visualization of cell cycle phases directly helps us to obtain a deeper understanding of controlled, multicellular, cell cycle progression. The fluorescent ubiquitination‐based cell cycle indicator (Fucci) system allows us to monitor, in living cells, the G1 and the S/G2/M phases of the cell cycle in red and green fluorescent colors, respectively. Since the discovery of Fucci technology, it has found numerous applications in the characterization of the timing of cell cycl...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - October 1, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Takashi Saitou, Takeshi Imamura Tags: Review Article Source Type: research