bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Membrane-bound molecules in rat cerebral cortex regulate thalamic innervation
Authors: Götz Magdalena , Novak Nino , Bastmeyer Martin , Bolz Jürgen 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
During development of the thalamocortical projection, afferent fibers from the thalamus reach the cortex at a time when their target cells have just been generated but have not yet migrated to their final position. Thalamic axons begin to invade the cortex only shortly before their target layer 4 is formed. The mechanisms responsible for the innervation and termination of thalamic fibers in the cortex are not known. Here we show that the growth of thalamic axons in vitro is influenced by the age of cortical explants. Cortical explants of early embryonic stages were not invaded by thalamic explants, whereas thalamic fibers entered explants from postnatal cortices and terminated properly in their target layer 4 in vitro. Outgrowth assays on cortical cell membranes prepared at different developmental stages revealed that the growth of thalamic axons is selectively influenced by growth-promoting molecules that are upregulated during development. Moreover, experiments with postnatal cortical membranes isolated from distinct layers revealed that the growth of thalamic axons is selectively reduced on membranes prepared from layer 4. These results provide evidence that membrane-bound molecules in the cortex are involved in both the regulation of thalamic innervation into the cortical layers and their termination in the correct target layer.
Regionality of egg cytoplasm that promotes muscle differentiation in embryo of the ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi
Authors: Nishida Hiroki 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Development of ascidians occurs in typical mosaic fashion: blastomeres isolated from early embryos differentiate into tissues according to their normal fates, an indication that cytoplasmic determinants exist in early blastomeres. To provide direct evidence for such cytoplasmic determinants, we have devised methods for fusing blastomeres and cytoplasmic fragments from various regions. (1) Presumptive-epidermis blastomeres were fused to cytoplasmic fragments from various regions of blastomeres of 8-cell embryos of Halocynthia roretzi and development of muscle cells was monitored by an antibody to ascidian myosin. Muscle differentiation was observed only when presumptive-epidermis blastomeres were fused with fragments from the posterior region of B4.1 (posterior-vegetal) blastomeres, the normal progenitor of muscle cells. The results indicate that muscle determinants are present and localized in the cytoplasm that enters muscle-lineage cells. (2) To investigate the presence and localization of muscle determinants in the egg, cytoplasmic fragments from various regions of unfertilized and fertilized eggs were fused with the presumptive-epidermis blastomeres, and formation of muscle cells was assessed by monitoring myosin, actin and acetylcholinesterase expression. These proteins were expressed only when cytoplasm from a restricted region of the eggs, i.e. the vegetal region, after the first phase of ooplasmic segregation, and posterior region, after the second phase of segregation, were fused. Based on these experiments, it is suggested that muscle determinants are segregated by ooplasmic movements after fertilization. They move initially to the vegetal pole of the egg and, prior to first cleavage, to the posterior region from whence future muscle-lineage blastomeres are formed. The inferred movements of muscle determinants correspond to those of the myoplasm, a microscopically visible portion of the egg cytoplasm.
Cranial and trunk neural crest cells use different mechanisms for attachment to extracellular matrices
Authors: Lallier Thomas , Leblanc Gabrielle , Artinger Kristin B. , Bronner-Fraser Marianne 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
We have used a quantitative cell attachment assay to compare the interactions of cranial and trunk neural crest cells with the extracellular matrix (ECM) molecules fibronectin, laminin and collagen types I and IV. Antibodies to the 1 subunit of integrin inhibited attachment under all conditions tested, suggesting that integrins mediate neural crest cell interactions with these ECM molecules. The HNK-1 antibody against a surface carbohydrate epitope under certain conditions inhibited both cranial and trunk neural crest cell attachment to laminin, but not to fibronectin. An antiserum to α1 integrin inhibited attachment of trunk, but not cranial, neural crest cells to laminin and collagen type I, though interactions with fibronectin or collagen type IV were unaffected.
The surface properties of trunk and cranial neural crest cells differed in several ways. First, trunk neural crest cells attached to collagen types I and IV, but cranial neural crest cells did not. Second, their divalent cation requirements for attachment to ECM molecules differed. For fibronectin substrata, trunk neural crest cells required divalent cations for attachment, whereas cranial neural crest cells bound in the absence of divalent cations. However, cranial neural crest cells lost this cation-independent attachment after a few days of culture. For laminin substrata, trunk cells used two integrins, one divalent cation-dependent and the other divalent cation-independent (Lallier, T. E. and Bronner-Fraser, M. (1991) Development 113, 1069-1081). In contrast, cranial neural crest cells attached to laminin using a single, divalent cation-dependent receptor system. Immunoprecipitations and immunoblots of surface labelled neural crest cells with HNK-1, α1 integrin and β1 integrin antibodies suggest that cranial and trunk neural crest cells possess biochemically distinct integrins. Our results demonstrate that cranial and trunk cells differ in their mechanisms of adhesion to selected ECM components, suggesting that they are non-over-lapping populations of cells with regard to their adhesive properties.
An amphioxus homeobox gene: sequence conservation, spatial expression during development and insights into vertebrate evolution
Authors: Holland Peter W. H. , Holland Linda Z. , Williams Nicola A. , Holland Nicholas D. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
The embryology of amphioxus has much in common with vertebrate embryology, reflecting a close phylogenetic relationship between the two groups. Amphioxus embryology is simpler in several key respects, however, including a lack of pronounced craniofacial morphogenesis. To gain an insight into the molecular changes that accompanied the evolution of vertebrate embryology, and into the relationship between the amphioxus and vertebrate body plans, we have undertaken the first molecular level investigation of amphioxus embryonic development. We report the cloning, complete DNA sequence determination, sequence analysis and expression analysis of an amphioxus homeobox gene, AmphiHox3, evolutionarily homologous to the thirdmost 3′ paralogous group of mammalian Hox genes. Sequence comparison to a mammalian homologue, mouse Hox-2.7 (HoxB3), reveals several stretches of amino acid conservation within the deduced protein sequences. Whole mount in situ hybridization reveals localized expression of AmphiHox3 in the posterior mesoderm (but not in the somites), and region-specific expression in the dorsal nerve cord, of amphioxus neurulae, later embryos and larvae. The anterior limit to expression in the nerve cord is at the level of the four/five somite boundary at the neurula stage, and stabilises to just anterior to the first nerve cord pigment spot to form. Comparison to the anterior expression boundary of mouse Hox-2.7 (HoxB3) and related genes suggests that the vertebrate brain is homologous to an extensive region of the amphioxus nerve cord that contains the cerebral vesicle (a region at the extreme rostral tip) and extends posterior to somite four. This proposed homology implies that the vertebrate brain probably did not evolve solely from the cerebral vesicle of an amphioxus-like ancestor, nor did it arise entirely de novo anterior to the cerebral vesicle.
The consequences of ubiquitous expression of the wingless gene in the Drosophila embryo
Authors: Noordermeer Jasprien , Johnston Paul , Rijsewijk Frans , Nusse Roel , Lawrence Peter A. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
The segment polarity gene wingless has an essential function in cell-to-cell communication during various stages of Drosophila development. The wingless gene encodes a secreted protein that affects gene expression in surrounding cells but does not spread far from the cells where it is made. In larvae, wingless is necessary to generate naked cuticle in a restricted part of each segment.
To test whether the local accumulation of wingless is essential for its function, we made transgenic flies that express wingless under the control of a hsp70 promoter (HS-wg flies). Uniform wingless expression results in a complete naked cuticle, uniform armadillo accumulation and broadening of the engrailed domain. The expression patterns of patched, cubitus interruptus Dominant and Ultrabithorax follow the change in engrailed.
The phenotype of heatshocked HS-wg embryos resembles the segment polarity mutant naked, suggesting that embryos that overexpress wingless or lack the naked gene enter similar developmental pathways.
The ubiquitous effects of ectopic wingless expression may indicate that most cells in the embryo can receive and interpret the wingless signal. For the development of the wild-type pattern, it is required that wingless is expressed in a subset of these cells.
Maintenance of the engrailed expression pattern by Polycomb group genes in Drosophila
Authors: Moazed Danesh , O’Farrell Patrick H. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
The stable maintenance of expression patterns of homeotic genes depends on the function of a number of negative trans-regulators, termed the Polycomb (Pc) group of genes. We have examined the pattern of expression of the Drosophila segment polarity gene, engrailed (en), in embryos mutant for several different members of the Pc group. Here we report that embryos mutant for two or more Pc group genes show strong ectopic en expression, while only weak derepression of en occurs in embryos mutant for a single Pc group gene. This derepression is independent of two known activators of en expression: en itself and wingless. Additionally, in contrast to the strong ectopic expression of homeotic genes observed in extra sex combs− (esc−) mutant embryos, the en expression pattern is nearly normal in esc embryos. This suggests that the esc gene product functions in a pathway independent of the other genes in the group. The data indicate that the same group of genes is required for stable restriction of en expression to a striped pattern and for the restriction of expression of homeotic genes along the anterior-posterior axis, and support a global role for the Pc group genes in stable repression of activity of developmental selector genes.
Coordinate embryonic expression of three zebrafish engrailed genes
Authors: Ekker Marc , Wegner Jeremy , Andrée Akimenko Marie , Westerfield Monte 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
We have identified three genes, expressed in zebrafish embryos, that are members of the engrailed gene family. On the basis of sequence comparisons and analyses of their expression patterns, we suggest that two of these genes, eng2 and eng3, are closely related to the En-2 gene of other vertebrates. The third gene, eng1, is probably the zebrafish homolog of En-1. Sub-sets of cells at the developing junction between the midbrain and hindbrain express three different combinations of these genes, revealing a previously unknown complexity of this region of the CNS. Other cells, for example, jaw and myotomal muscle precursors, express two of the three genes in combinations which, in the myotomal muscles, change during development. Cells in the developing hindbrain and fins express only a single engrailed gene. We propose that the fates and patterning of these cells may be regulated by the coordinate expression of particular combinations of these closely related homeoproteins.
Reduced junctional permeability at interrhombomeric boundaries
Authors: Martinez S. , Geijo E. , Sánchez-Vives M. V. , Puelles L. , Gallego R. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Intercellular communication is considered to have a role during pattern specification processes in early embry onic development. This report analyzes the changing gap junctional communication properties of chick neu roepithelial cells depending on their position relative to the segmental partitions of the rhombencephalon. Inter cellular electrical coupling and dye transfer were studied with microelectrode techniques. Neuroepithelial cells were electrically coupled irrespective of their location relative to interneuromeric boundaries. lontophoretic injection of biocytin or Lucifer Yellow into single cells inside the rhombomeres was followed by transjunctional diffusion to the surrounding cells. In contrast, dye trans fer was strictly limited when the diffusion zone con tacted the cells forming the interneuromeric limits. Label injected into the boundary cells did not spread to other cells at all. Avian interrhombomeric boundaries are thus sites of reduced junctional permeability during early morphogenesis.
Mox-1 and Mox-2 define a novel homeobox gene subfamily and are differentially expressed during early mesodermal patterning in mouse embryos
Authors: Candia Albert F. , Hu Jinxin , Crosby Jeffrey , Lalley Peter A. , Noden Drew , Nadeau Joseph H. , Wright Christopher V. E. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
We have isolated two mouse genes, Mox-1 and Mox-2 that, by sequence, genomic structure and expression pattern, define a novel homeobox gene family probably involved in mesodermal regionalization and somitic differentiation. Mox-1 is genetically linked to the keratin and Hox-2 genes of chromosome 11, while Mox-2 maps to chromosome 12.
At primitive streak stages (approximately 7.0 days post coitum), Mox-1 is expressed in mesoderm lying posterior of the future primordial head and heart. It is not expressed in neural tissue, ectoderm, or endoderm. Mox-1 expression may therefore define an extensive ‘posterior’ domain of embryonic mesoderm before, or at the earliest stages of, patterning of the mesoderm and neuroectoderm by the Hox cluster genes.
Between 7.5 and 9.5 days post coitum, Mox-1 is expressed in presomitic mesoderm, epithelial and differentiating somites (dermatome, myotome and sclerotome) and in lateral plate mesoderm. In the body of mid-gestation embryos, Mox-1 signal is restricted to loose undifferentiated mesenchyme. Mox-1 signal is also prominent over the mesenchyme of the heart cushions and truncus arteriosus, which arises from epithelialmesenchymal transformation and over a limited number of craniofacial foci of neural crest-derived mesenchyme that are associated with muscle attachment sites.
The expression profile of Mox-2 is similar to, but different from, that of Mox-1. For example, Mox-2 is apparently not expressed before somites form, is then expressed over the entire epithelial somite, but during somitic differentiation, Mox-2 signal rapidly becomes restricted to sclerotomal derivatives.
The expression patterns of these genes suggest regulatory roles for Mox-1 and Mox-2 in the initial anteriorposterior regionalization of vertebrate embryonic mesoderm and, in addition, in somite specification and differentiation.
Reorganisation of the microtubular cytoskeleton by embryonic microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2c)
Authors: Weisshaar Brigitte , Doll Thierry , Matus Andrew 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Microtubule-associated protein 2c (MAP2c) is one of a set of embryonic MAP forms that are expressed during neuronal differentiation in the developing nervous system. We have investigated its mode of action by expressing recombinant protein in non-neuronal cell lines using cell cDNA transfection techniques. At every level of expression, all the MAP2c was bound to cellular microtubules. At low MAP2c levels, the microtubules retained their normal arrangement, radiating from the centrosomal microtubule-organising centre (MTOC) but at higher levels an increasing proportion of microtubules occurred independently of the MTOC. In most cells, radially oriented microtubules still attached to the MTOC co-existed with detached microtubules, suggesting that the primary effect of MAP2 is to increase the probability that tubulin polymerisation will occur independently of the MTOC. The MTOC-independent microtubules formed bundles whose distribution depended on their length in relation to the diameter of the transfected cell. Short bundles were attached to the cell cortex at one end and followed a straight course through the cytoplasm, whereas longer bundles followed a curved path around the periphery of the cell. By comparing these patterns to those produced by two chemical agents that stabilise microtubules, taxol and dimethyl sulphoxide, we conclude that effects of MAP2c arise from two sources. It stabilises microtubules without providing assembly initiation sites and as a result produces relatively few, long microtubule bundles. These bend only when they encounter the restraining influence of the cortical cytoskeleton of the cell, indicating that MAP2c also imparts stiffness to them. By conferring these properties of stability and stiffness to neuronal microtubules MAP2c contributes to supporting the structure of developing neurites.
Epithelial differentiation and intercellular junction formation in the mouse early embryo
Authors: Fleming Tom P. , Javed Qamar , Hay Mark 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Trophectoderm differentiation during blastocyst formation provides a model for investigating how an epithelium develops in vivo. This paper briefly reviews our current understanding of the stages of differentiation and possible control mechanisms. The maturation of structural intercellular junctions is considered in more detail. Tight junction formation, essential for blastocoele cavitation and vectorial transport activity, begins at compaction (8-cell stage) and appears complete before fluid accumulation begins a day later (approx 32-cell stage). During this period, initial focal junction sites gradually extend laterally to become zonular and acquire the peripheral tight junction proteins ZO-1 and cingulin. Our studies indicate that junction components assemble in a temporal sequence with ZO-1 assembly preceding that of cingulin, suggesting that the junction forms progressively and in the ‘membrane to cytoplasm’ direction. The protein expression characteristics of ZO-1 and cingulin support this model. In contrast to ZO-1, cingulin expression is also detectable during oogenesis where the protein is localised in the cytocortex and in adjacent cumulus cells. However, maternal cingulin is metabolically unstable and does not appear to contribute to later tight junction formation in trophectoderm. Cell-cell interactions are important regulators of the level of synthesis and state of assembly of tight junction proteins, and also control the tissue-specificity of expression. In contrast to the progressive nature of tight junction formation, nascent desmosomes (formed from cavitation) appear mature in terms of their substructure and composition. The rapidity of desmosome assembly appears to be controlled by the time of expression of their transmembrane glycoprotein constituents; this occurs later than the expression of more cytoplasmic desmosome components and intermediate filaments which would therefore be available for assembly to occur to completion.
The role of intermediate filaments in early Xenopus development studied by antisense depletion of maternal mRNA
Authors: Heasman Janet , Torpey Nicholas , Wylie Chris 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
The effects of depleting a maternal cytokeratin mRNA on the developing embryo are described. Cytokeratins are members of the intermediate filament family of cytoskeletal proteins, and are expressed in a cortical network of the superficial cytoplasm of the oocyte. After fertilisation, a new cortical network is built up, which comes to occupy only the most superficial cells of the blastula. The maternal cytokeratin mRNA is abundantly translated, both during oogenesis, and during oocyte maturation and after fertilisation. Depletion of the mRNA results in depletion of the cortical filaments at the blastula stage and leads to gastrulation abnormalities. We discuss the various possible control experiments required for antisense oligo depletion studies and the implications of these results for cytokeratin function.
Specification of the body plan during Xenopus gastrulation: dorsoventral and anteroposterior patterning of the mesoderm
Authors: Slack J. M. W. , Isaacs H. V. , Johnson G. E. , Lettice L. A. , Tannahill D. , Thompson J. 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Although the mesoderm itself is induced at the blastula stage, its subdivision mainly occurs in response to further inductive signals during gastrulation. In the late blastula, most of the mesoderm has a ventral-type commitment except for the small organizer region which extends about 30° on each side of the dorsal midline. During gastrulation, dorsal convergence movements bring the cells of the lateroventral marginal zone up near the dorsal midline and into the range of the dorsalizing signal emitted by the organizer. This dorsalizing signal operates throughout gastrulation, can cross a Nuclepore membrane, and is not mimicked by lithium, FGFs or activin.
Anteroposterior specification also takes place during gastrulation and is probably controlled by a dominant region at the posterior end of the forming axis.
We have studied the expression patterns in Xenopus of three members of the FGF family: bFGF, int-2 and a newly discovered species, eFGF. These all have mesoderm inducing activity on isolated animal caps, but are likely also to be involved with the later interactions. RNAase protections and in situ hybridizations show that the int-2 and eFGF mRNAs are concentrated at the posterior end, while bFGF is expressed as a posterior to anterior gradient from tailbud to head.
Studies of embryos in which bFGF is overexpressed from synthetic mRNA show that biological activity is far greater when a functional signal sequence is provided. This suggests that int-2 and eFGF, which possess signal sequences, are better candidates for inducing factors in vivo than is bFGF.
Induction of anteroposterior neural pattern in Xenopus by planar signals
Authors: Doniach Tabitha 
Published: April 2021

ABSTRACT
Neural pattern in vertebrates has been thought to be induced in dorsal ectoderm by ‘vertical’ signals from underlying, patterned dorsal mesoderm. In the frog Xenopus laevis, it has recently been found that general neural differentiation and some pattern can be induced by ‘planar’ signals, i.e. those passing through the single plane formed by dorsal mesoderm and ectoderm, without the need for vertical interactions. Results in this paper, using the frog Xenopus laevis, indicate that four position-specific neural markers (the homeobox genes engrailed-2(en-2), XlHboxl and XlHboxó and the zinc-finger gene Krox-20) are expressed in planar explants of dorsal mesoderm and ectoderm (‘Keller explants’), in the same anteroposterior order as that in intact embryos. These genes are expressed regardless of convergent extension of the neurectoderm, and in the absence of head mesoderm. In addition, en-2 and XlHbox1 are not expressed in ectoderm when mesoderm is absent, but they and XlHbox6 are expressed in naïve, ventral ectoderm which has had only planar contact with dorsal mesoderm, en-2 expression can be induced ectopically, in ectoderm far anterior to the region normally fated to express it, suggesting that a prepattern is not required to determine where it is expressed. Finally, the mesoderm in planar explants expresses en-2 and XlHbox1 in an appropriate regional manner, indicating that A-P pattern in the mesoderm does not require vertical contact with ectoderm. Overall, these results indicate that anteroposterior neural pattern can be induced in ectoderm soley by planar signals from the mesoderm. Models for the induction of anteroposterior neural pattern by planar and vertical signals are discussed.