Prmt1 regulates craniofacial bone formation upstream of Msx1
Publication date: August 2018Source: Mechanisms of Development, Volume 152Author(s): Yongchao Gou, Jingyuan Li, Jian Wu, Rahul Gupta, Ihnbae Cho, Thach-Vu Ho, Yang Chai, Amy Merrill, Jun Wang, Jian XuAbstractProtein arginine methylation has been recently identified as an important form of post-translational modification (PTM). It is carried out by the protein arginine methyltransferase (PRMT) family of enzymes, which in mammals consists of nine members. Among them, PRMT1 is the major arginine methyltransferase and participates in transcription, signal transduction, development and cancer. The function of PRMT1 in craniofac...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Functional roles of the Ripply-mediated suppression of segmentation gene expression at the anterior presomitic mesoderm in zebrafish
In this study, we generated ripply1 mutants and examined genetic interaction between ripply1/2 and tbx6. Zebrafish ripply1−/− embryos failed to form the somite boundaries as was observed in knockdown embryos. We found that somite segmentation defects in ripply1 mutants were suppressed by heterozygous mutation of tbx6 or partial translational inhibition of tbx6 by antisense morpholino. We further showed that somite boundaries that were recovered in tbx6+/−; ripply1−/− embryos were dependent on the function of ripply2, indicating that relative gene dosage between ripply1/2 and tbx6 plays a critical role in the somi...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Tricin enhances osteoblastogenesis through the regulation of Wnt/β-catenin signaling in human mesenchymal stem cells
Publication date: August 2018Source: Mechanisms of Development, Volume 152Author(s): Hao Zhang, Hongqiang LiAbstractMesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are multipotent stromal cells that are capable of differentiate into multilineage cell types including bone in vitro and in vivo. Aim of the study: They have been widely developed as a therapeutic approach for bone tissue repair and regeneration. However, the efficiency of lineage specific differentiation still needs improvement. We investigated the effect of Tricin on the proliferation of human adult MSCs by alamar blue assay, the mineralization of MSCs by staining of calcium de...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
The extraordinary biology and development of marsupial frogs (Hemiphractidae) in comparison with fish, mammals, birds, amphibians and other animals
Publication date: Available online 3 January 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Eugenia M. del PinoAbstractThe study of oogenesis and early development of frogs belonging to the family Hemiphractidae provide important comparison to the aquatic development of other frogs, such as Xenopus laevis, because reproduction on land characterizes the Hemiphractidae. In this review, the multinucleated oogenesis of the marsupial frog Flectonotus pygmaeus (Hemiphractidae) is analyzed and interpreted. In addition, the adaptations associated with the incubation of embryos in the pouch of the female marsupial frog Gastrotheca...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Metabo-Devo: A metabolic perspective of development
Publication date: Available online 21 February 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Lautaro Gándara, Pablo WappnerAbstractIn the last years, several reports have established the notion that metabolism is not just a housekeeping process, but instead an active effector of physiological changes. The idea that the metabolic status may rule a wide range of phenomena in cell biology is starting to be broadly accepted. Thus, current developmental biology has begun to describe different ways by which the metabolic profile of the cell and developmental programs of the organism can crosstalk. In this review, we discuss m...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Emerging role of dynamic RNA modifications during animal development
Publication date: Available online 11 April 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Estefanía Sánchez-Vásquez, Nagif Alata Jimenez, Nicolás A. Vázquez, Pablo H. Strobl-MazzullaAbstractThe central dogma of molecular biology statically says that the information flows from DNA to messenger RNA to protein. But the recent advances in mass spectrometry and high throughput technology have helped the scientists to view RNA as little more than a courier of genetic information encoded in the DNA. The dynamics of RNA modifications in coding and non-coding RNAs are just emerging as a carrier of non-genetic information, un...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Regulation mechanisms and implications of sperm membrane hyperpolarization
Publication date: Available online 22 April 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Carla Ritagliati, Carolina Baro Graf, Cintia Stival, Dario KrapfAbstractMammalian sperm are unable to fertilize the egg immediately after ejaculation. In order to gain fertilization competence, they need to undergo a series of biochemical and physiological modifications inside the female reproductive tract, known as capacitation. Capacitation correlates with two essential events for fertilization: hyperactivation, an asymmetric and vigorous flagellar motility, and the ability to undergo the acrosome reaction. At a molecular level, c...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
The biology and evolution of the Dilp8-Lgr3 pathway: A relaxin-like pathway coupling tissue growth and developmental timing control
Publication date: Available online 30 April 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Alisson M. Gontijo, Andres GarelliAbstractMany insects, like cockroaches, moths, and flies, can regenerate tissues by extending the growth-competent phases of their life cycle. The molecular and cellular players mediating this coordination between tissue growth and developmental timing have been recently discovered in Drosophila. The insulin/relaxin-like peptide, Dilp8, was identified as a factor communicating abnormal growth status of Drosophila larval imaginal discs to the neuroendocrine centers that control the timing of the onse...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
CTCF knockout reveals an essential role for this protein during the zebrafish development
In conclusion, CTCF is a ubiquitous factor during the zebrafish development, which regulates the correct formation of different structures of the embryo, and its deregulation impacts on essential cell survival genes. Overall, this work provides a basis to look for the particular functions of CTCF in the different developing tissues and organs of the zebrafish. (Source: Mechanisms of Development)
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Imaging transcription factors dynamics with advanced fluorescence microscopy methods
Publication date: Available online 10 May 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Paula Verneri, Juan José Romero, María Cecilia De Rossi, Yanina Alvarez, Camila Oses, Alejandra Guberman, Valeria LeviAbstractPluripotent stem cells (PSCs) are capable of self-renewing and producing all cell types derived from the three germ layers in response to developmental cues, constituting an important promise for regenerative medicine. Pluripotency depends on specific transcription factors (TFs) that induce genes required to preserve the undifferentiated state and repress other genes related to differentiation. The transcript...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
G-quadruplex in animal development: Contribution to gene expression and genomic heterogeneity
Publication date: Available online 18 May 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Pablo Armas, Nora Beatriz CalcaterraAbstractDuring animal development, gene expression is orchestrated by specific and highly evolutionarily conserved mechanisms that take place accurately, both at spatial and temporal levels. The last decades have provided compelling evidence showing that chromatin state plays essential roles in orchestrating most of the stages of development. The DNA molecule can adopt alternative structures different from the helical duplex architecture. G-rich DNA sequences can fold as intrastrand quadruple helix ...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Regulation and function of p53: A perspective from Drosophila studies
Publication date: Available online 23 May 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): María Clara Ingaramo, Juan A. Sánchez, Andrés DekantyAbstractTp53 is a central regulator of cellular responses to stress and one of the most frequently mutated genes in human cancers. P53 is activated by a myriad of stress signals and drives specific cellular responses depending on stress nature, cell type and cellular context. Additionally to its classical functions in regulating cell cycle arrest, apoptosis and senescence, newly described non-canonical functions of p53 are increasingly coming under the spotlight as important func...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
The neuromuscular junction of Xenopus tadpoles: Revisiting a classical model of early synaptogenesis and regeneration
Publication date: Available online 26 May 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Francisca Bermedo-García, Jorge Ojeda, Emilio E. Méndez-Olivos, Sylvain Marcellini, Juan Larraín, Juan Pablo HenríquezAbstractThe frog neuromuscular junction (NMJ) has been extensively used as a model system to dissect the mechanisms involved in synapse formation, maturation, maintenance, regeneration, and function. Early NMJ synaptogenesis relies on a combination of cell-autonomous and interdependent pre/postsynaptic communication processes. Due to their transparency, comparatively easy manipulation, and remarkable regenerative a...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
MicroRNAs and the neural crest: From induction to differentiation
Publication date: Available online 31 May 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Andrea M.J. WeinerAbstractMicroRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that can control gene expression by base pairing to partially complementary mRNAs. Regulation by microRNAs plays essential roles in diverse biological processes such as neural crest formation during embryonic development. The neural crest is a multipotent cell population that develops from the dorsal neural fold of vertebrate embryos in order to migrate extensively and differentiate into a variety of tissues. Gene regulatory networks that coordinate neural crest cell specifi...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
Early postnatal development of the visual cortex in mice with retinal degeneration
This study characterizes the early postnatal development of the visual neocortex in C3H/HeNRj mice. These mice are homozygous for the Pde6brd1 mutation, which causes retinal degeneration starting from postnatal day 7 (P7). To monitor the development of the visual cortex between P3 and P28 we used eight antigens known to be expressed at different developmental stages (Nestin, tau3, β3- Tubulin, Calbindin, Doublecortin, MAP2, Parvalbumin and NeuN).Using semiquantitative analysis we traced the expression and localization of different developmental markers throughout the layers of the visual cortex. Cortical tissue sections c...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 6, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research
