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Research Containing: Cell Polarity

Detrimental effects of microgravity on mouse preimplantation development in vitro

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

Sustaining life beyond Earth either on space stations or on other planets will require a clear understanding of how the space environment affects key phases of mammalian reproduction. However, because of the difficulty of doing such experiments in mammals, most studies of reproduction in space have been carried out with other taxa, such as sea urchins, fish, amphibians or birds. Here, we studied the possibility of mammalian fertilization and preimplantation development under microgravity (microG) conditions using a three-dimensional (3D) clinostat, which faithfully simulates 10(-3) G using 3D rotation. Fertilization occurred normally in vitro under microG. However, although we obtained 75 healthy offspring from microG-fertilized and -cultured embryos after transfer to recipient females, the birth rate was lower than among the 1G controls. Immunostaining demonstrated that in vitro culture under microG caused slower development and fewer trophectoderm cells than in 1G controls but did not affect polarization of the blastocyst. These results suggest for the first time that fertilization can occur normally under microG environment in a mammal, but normal preimplantation embryo development might require 1G.

Related URLs:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19707597

Cytoskeleton and gravity at work in the establishment of dorso-ventral polarity in the egg of Xenopus laevis

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

The establishment of polarities during early embryogenesis is essential for normal development. Amphibian eggs are appropriate models for studies on embryonic pattern formation. The animal-vegetal axis of the axially symmetrical amphibian egg originates during oogenesis and foreshadows the main body axis of the embryo. The dorso-ventral polarity is epigenetically established before first cleavage. Recent experiments strongly suggest that in the monospermic eggs of the anuran Xenopus laevis both the cytoskeleton and gravity act in the determination of the dorso-ventral polarity. In order to test the role of gravity in this process, eggs will be fertilized under microgravity conditions during the SL-D1 flight in 1985. In a fully automatic experiment container eggs will be kept under well-defined conditions and artificially fertilized as soon as microgravity is reached; eggs and embryos at different stages will then be fixed for later examination. Back on earth the material will be analysed and we will know whether fertilization under microgravity conditions is possible. If so, the relation of the dorso-ventral axis to the former sperm entry point will be determined on the whole embryos; in addition eggs and embryos will be analysed cytologically.

Related URLs:
http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&CSC=Y&NEWS=N&PAGE=fulltext&D=med2&AN=11537800
http://sfxhosted.exlibrisgroup.com/mayo?sid=OVID:medline&id=pmid:11537800&id=doi:&issn=0273-1177&isbn=&volume=4&issue=12&spage=9&pages=9-18&date=1984&title=Advances+in+Space+Research&atitle=Cytoskeleton+and+gravity+at+work+in+the+establishment+of+dorso-ventral+polarity+in+the+egg+of+Xenopus+laevis.&aulast=Ubbels&pid=%3Cauthor%3EUbbels+GA%3C%2Fauthor%3E&%3CAN%3E11537800%3C%2FAN%3E

A possible involvement of autophagy in amyloplast degradation in columella cells during hydrotropic response of Arabidopsis roots

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

Seedling roots display not only gravitropism but also hydrotropism, and the two tropisms interfere with one another. In Arabidopsis (Arabidopsis thaliana) roots, amyloplasts in columella cells are rapidly degraded during the hydrotropic response. Degradation of amyloplasts involved in gravisensing enhances the hydrotropic response by reducing the gravitropic response. However, the mechanism by which amyloplasts are degraded in hydrotropically responding roots remains unknown. In this study, the mechanistic aspects of the degradation of amyloplasts in columella cells during hydrotropic response were investigated by analyzing organellar morphology, cell polarity and changes in gene expression. The results showed that hydrotropic stimulation or systemic water stress caused dramatic changes in organellar form and positioning in columella cells. Specifically, the columella cells of hydrotropically responding or water-stressed roots lost polarity in the distribution of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER), and showed accelerated vacuolization and nuclear movement. Analysis of ER-localized GFP showed that ER redistributed around the developed vacuoles. Cells often showed decomposing amyloplasts in autophagosome-like structures. Both hydrotropic stimulation and water stress upregulated the expression of AtATG18a, which is required for autophagosome formation. Furthermore, analysis with GFP-AtATG8a revealed that both hydrotropic stimulation and water stress induced the formation of autophagosomes in the columella cells. In addition, expression of plastid marker, pt-GFP, in the columella cells dramatically decreased in response to both hydrotropic stimulation and water stress, but its decrease was much less in the autophagy mutant atg5. These results suggest that hydrotropic stimulation confers water stress in the roots, which triggers an autophagic response responsible for the degradation of amyloplasts in columella cells of Arabidopsis roots.

Related URLs:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22532286

Reconstruction of Functional Cortical-like Tissues from Neural Stem and Progenitor Cells

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

Neural stem and progenitor cells isolated from embryonic day 13 rat cerebral cortex were immobilized in three-dimensional type I collagen gels, and then the cell-collagen constructs were transferred to rotary wall vessel bioreactors and cultured in serum-free medium containing basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) combined with brain-derived neurotrophic factor for up to 10 weeks. Remarkably, the collagen-entrapped cells formed a complex two-layered structure that emulated to a certain extent the cerebral cortex of the embryonic brain in architecture and functionality. The surface layer (layer I) composed primarily of proliferating neural progenitor cells (nestin(+), vimentin(+), and PCNA(+)) predominantly expressed functional neurotransmitter receptors for cholinergic and purinergic agonists while differentiating cells (TuJ1(+) and GFAP(+)) in the deeper layer (layer II) contained differentiated neurons and astrocytes and mainly responded to GABAergic and glutamatergic agonists and to veratridine, which activates voltage-dependent Na(+) channels. An active synaptic vesicle recycling was demonstrated by neuronal networks in the deeper layer using the endocytotic marker FM1-43. Cell polarization forming the characteristic two-layered structure was found to associate with the bFGF and FGF receptor signaling. These engineered functional tissue constructs have a potential use as tissue surrogates for drug screening and detection of environmental toxins, and in neural cell replacement therapy.

Related URLs:
<Go to ISI>://WOS:000259998000009

The influence of gravity on the process of development of animal systems

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

The development of animal systems is described in terms of a series of overlapping phases: pattern specification; differentiation; growth; and aging. The extent to which altered (micro) gravity (g) affects those phases is briefly reviewed for several animal systems. As a model, amphibian egg/early embryo is described. Recent data derived from clinostat protocols indicates that microgravity simulation alters early pattern specification (dorsal/ventral polarity) but does not adversely influence subsequent morphogenesis. Possible explanations for the absence of catastrophic microgravity effects on amphibian embryogenesis are discussed.

Related URLs:
http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&CSC=Y&NEWS=N&PAGE=fulltext&D=med2&AN=11537792
http://sfxhosted.exlibrisgroup.com/mayo?sid=OVID:medline&id=pmid:11537792&id=doi:&issn=0273-1177&isbn=&volume=4&issue=12&spage=315&pages=315-23&date=1984&title=Advances+in+Space+Research&atitle=The+influence+of+gravity+on+the+process+of+development+of+animal+systems.&aulast=Malacinski&pid=%3Cauthor%3EMalacinski+GM%3C%2Fauthor%3E&%3CAN%3E11537792%3C%2FAN%3E

Microtubules as key cytoskeletal elements in cellular transport and shape changes: their expected responses to space environments

by cfynanon 9 June 2015in Biology & Biotechnology No comment

Application of reference standard reagents to alternatively depolymerize or stabilize microtubules in a cell that undergoes very regular cytoskeleton-dependent shape changes provides a model system in which some expected components of the environments of spacecraft and space can be tested on Earth for their effects on the cytoskeleton. The fertilized eggs of Ilyanassa obsoleta undergo polar lobe formation by repeated, dramatic, constriction and relaxation of a microfilamentous band localized in the cortical cytoplasm and activated by microtubules.

Related URLs:
http://ovidsp.ovid.com/ovidweb.cgi?T=JS&CSC=Y&NEWS=N&PAGE=fulltext&D=med3&AN=11537984
http://sfxhosted.exlibrisgroup.com/mayo?sid=OVID:medline&id=pmid:11537984&id=doi:&issn=0022-8443&isbn=&volume=95&issue=1&spage=45&pages=45-9&date=1992&title=Transactions+of+the+Kansas+Academy+of+Science&atitle=Microtubules+as+key+cytoskeletal+elements+in+cellular+transport+and+shape+changes%3A+their+expected+responses+to+space+environments.&aulast=Conrad&pid=%3Cauthor%3EConrad+GW%3C%2Fauthor%3E&%3CAN%3E11537984%3C%2FAN%3E

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