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Effect of BMP4 preceded by retinoic acid and co‐culturing ovarian somatic cells on differentiation of mouse embryonic stem cells into oocyte‐like cells
Bone morphogenetic protein 4 (BMP4) and retinoic acid (RA) signaling are the key regulators for germ cell and meiosis induction, respectively. Gonadal tissue also provides an appropriate microenvironment for oocyte differentiation in vivo. The current study aimed to determine whether mimicking in vivo niche is more efficient for oocyte differentiation from embryonic stem (ES) cells. Here, differentiation of mouse ES cells toward oocyte‐like cells using embryoid body (EB) and monolayer protocols was induced in the presence (+BMP4) or absence (‐BMP4) of BMP4. On day 5, each group was co‐cultured with ovarian somatic ...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - May 1, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Soghra Bahmanpour, Nehleh Zarei Fard, Tahereh Talaei‐Khozani, Ahmad Hosseini, Tahereh Esmaeilpour Tags: Original Article Source Type: research

Nse1 and Nse4, subunits of the Smc5–Smc6 complex, are involved in Dictyostelium development upon starvation
The Smc5–Smc6 complex contains a heterodimeric core of two SMC proteins and non‐Smc elements (Nse1–6), and plays an important role in DNA repair. We investigated the functional roles of Nse4 and Nse1 in Dictyostelium discoideum. Nse4 and Nse3 expressed as Flag‐tagged fusion proteins were highly enriched in nuclei, while Nse1 was localized in whole cells. Using yeast two‐hybrid assays, only the interaction between Nse3 and Nse1 was detected among the combinations. However, all of the interactions among these three proteins were recognized by co‐immunoprecipitation assay using cell lysates prepared from the cells...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - May 1, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Hideo Taniura, Naoya Tanabe, Yumi Bando, Natsumi Arai Tags: Original Article Source Type: research

Roles of cofilin in development and its mechanisms of regulation
Reorganization of the actin cytoskeleton is essential for cellular processes during animal development. Cofilin and actin depolymerizing factor (ADF) are potent actin‐binding proteins that sever and depolymerize actin filaments, acting to generate the dynamics of the actin cytoskeleton. The activity of cofilin is spatially and temporally regulated by a variety of intracellular molecular mechanisms. Cofilin is regulated by cofilin binding molecules, is phosphorylated at Ser‐3 (inactivation) by LIM‐kinases (LIMKs) and testicular protein kinases (TESKs), and is dephosphorylated (reactivation) by slingshot protein phosph...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - April 10, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Kazumasa Ohashi Tags: Review Article Source Type: research

Evolution of germline segregation processes in animal development
Germline segregation is a complex process by which germline cells are separated from somatic tissues during development. Recent animal studies on germline segregation allow for comparisons of the mechanisms used by different species and to propose evolutionary scenarios underlying the diversification of these processes. In this review, several proposed models of germline segregation are presented, and in addition, recent findings from the increasing number of studies are discussed, particularly concerning the need to reconsider these models based on available data. (Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation)
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - April 10, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Gaku Kumano Tags: Review Article Source Type: research

Reprogramming of human somatic cells by bacteria
In general, it had been believed that the cell fate restriction of terminally differentiated somatic cells was irreversible. In 1952, somatic cell nuclear transfer (SCNT) was introduced to study early embryonic development in frogs. So far, various mammalian species have been successfully cloned using the SCNT technique, though its efficiency is very low. Embryonic stem (ES) cells were the first pluripotent cells to be isolated from an embryo and have a powerful potential to differentiate into more than 260 types of cells. The generation of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells was a breakthrough in stem cell research, and ...
Source: Development, Growth and Differentiation - April 10, 2015 Category: Research Authors: Naofumi Ito, Kunimasa Ohta Tags: Review Article Source Type: research