scholarly journals Reprogramming the Cell Cycle for Endoreduplication in Rodent Trophoblast Cells

1998 ◽  
Vol 9 (4) ◽  
pp. 795-807 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alasdair MacAuley ◽  
James C. Cross ◽  
Zena Werb

Differentiation of trophoblast giant cells in the rodent placenta is accompanied by exit from the mitotic cell cycle and onset of endoreduplication. Commitment to giant cell differentiation is under developmental control, involving down-regulation of Id1and Id2, concomitant with up-regulation of the basic helix-loop-helix factor Hxt and acquisition of increased adhesiveness. Endoreduplication disrupts the alternation of DNA synthesis and mitosis that maintains euploid DNA content during proliferation. To determine how the mammalian endocycle is regulated, we examined the expression of the cyclins and cyclin-dependent kinases during the transition from replication to endoreduplication in the Rcho-1 rat choriocarcinoma cell line. We cultured these cells under conditions that gave relatively synchronous endoreduplication. This allowed us to study the events that occur during the transition from the mitotic cycle to the first endocycle. With giant cell differentiation, the cells switched cyclin D isoform expression from D3 to D1 and altered several checkpoint functions, acquiring a relative insensitivity to DNA-damaging agents and a coincident serum independence. The initiation of S phase during endocycles appeared to involve cycles of synthesis of cyclins E and A, and termination of S was associated with abrupt loss of cyclin A and E. Both cyclins were absent from gap phase cells, suggesting that their degradation may be necessary to allow reinitiation of the endocycle. The arrest of the mitotic cycle at the onset of endoreduplication was associated with a failure to assemble cyclin B/p34cdk1complexes during the first endocycle. In subsequent endocycles, cyclin B expression was suppressed. Together these data suggest several points at which cell cycle regulation could be targeted to shift cells from a mitotic to an endoreduplicative cycle.

2006 ◽  
Vol 26 (8) ◽  
pp. 3266-3281 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karim Nadra ◽  
Silvia I. Anghel ◽  
Elisabeth Joye ◽  
Nguan Soon Tan ◽  
Sharmila Basu-Modak ◽  
...  

ABSTRACT Mutation of the nuclear receptor peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor β/δ (PPARβ/δ) severely affects placenta development, leading to embryonic death at embryonic day 9.5 (E9.5) to E10.5 of most, but not all, PPARβ/δ-null mutant embryos. While very little is known at present about the pathway governed by PPARβ/δ in the developing placenta, this paper demonstrates that the main alteration of the placenta of PPARβ/δ-null embryos is found in the giant cell layer. PPARβ/δ activity is in fact essential for the differentiation of the Rcho-1 cells in giant cells, as shown by the severe inhibition of differentiation once PPARβ/δ is silenced. Conversely, exposure of Rcho-1 cells to a PPARβ/δ agonist triggers a massive differentiation via increased expression of 3-phosphoinositide-dependent kinase 1 and integrin-linked kinase and subsequent phosphorylation of Akt. The links between PPARβ/δ activity in giant cells and its role on Akt activity are further strengthened by the remarkable pattern of phospho-Akt expression in vivo at E9.5, specifically in the nucleus of the giant cells. In addition to this phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase/Akt main pathway, PPARβ/δ also induced giant cell differentiation via increased expression of I-mfa, an inhibitor of Mash-2 activity. Finally, giant cell differentiation at E9.5 is accompanied by a PPARβ/δ-dependent accumulation of lipid droplets and an increased expression of the adipose differentiation-related protein (also called adipophilin), which may participate to lipid metabolism and/or steroidogenesis. Altogether, this important role of PPARβ/δ in placenta development and giant cell differentiation should be considered when contemplating the potency of PPARβ/δ agonist as therapeutic agents of broad application.


2000 ◽  
Vol 20 (2) ◽  
pp. 530-541 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ian C. Scott ◽  
Lynn Anson-Cartwright ◽  
Paul Riley ◽  
Danny Reda ◽  
James C. Cross

ABSTRACT The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor genesHand1 and Mash2 are essential for placental development in mice. Hand1 promotes differentiation of trophoblast giant cells, whereas Mash2 is required for the maintenance of giant cell precursors, and its overexpression prevents giant cell differentiation. We found that Hand1 expression and Mash2 expression overlap in the ectoplacental cone and spongiotrophoblast, layers of the placenta that contain the giant cell precursors, indicating that the antagonistic activities ofHand1 and Mash2 must be coordinated. MASH2 and HAND1 both heterodimerize with E factors, bHLH proteins that are the DNA-binding partners for most class B bHLH factors and which are also expressed in the ectoplacental cone and spongiotrophoblast. In vitro, HAND1 could antagonize MASH2 function by competing for E-factor binding. However, the Hand1 mutant phenotype cannot be solely explained by ectopic activity of MASH2, as the Hand1mutant phenotype was not altered by further mutation ofMash2. Interestingly, expression of E-factor genes (ITF2 and ALF1) was down-regulated in the trophoblast lineage prior to giant cell differentiation. Therefore, suppression of MASH2 function, required to allow giant cell differentiation, may occur in vivo by loss of its E-factor partner due to loss of its expression and/or competition from HAND1. In giant cells, where E-factor expression was not detected, HAND1 presumably associates with a different bHLH partner. This may account for the distinct functions of HAND1 in giant cells and their precursors. We conclude that development of the trophoblast lineage is regulated by the interacting functions of HAND1, MASH2, and their cofactors.


Development ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 124 (18) ◽  
pp. 3543-3553 ◽  
Author(s):  
B.H. Reed ◽  
T.L. Orr-Weaver

In the endo cell cycle, rounds of DNA replication occur in the absence of mitosis, giving rise to polyploid or polytene cells. We show that the Drosophila morula gene is essential to maintain the absence of mitosis during the endo cycle. During oogenesis in wild-type Drosophila, nurse cells become polyploid and do not contain cyclin B protein. Nurse cells in female-sterile alleles of morula begin to become polyploid but revert to a mitotic-like state, condensing the chromosomes and forming spindles. In strong, larval lethal alleles of morula, the polytene ring gland cells also inappropriately regress into mitosis and form spindles. In addition to its role in the endo cycle, morula function is necessary for dividing cells to exit mitosis. Embryonic S-M cycles and the archetypal (G1-S-G2-M) cell cycle are both arrested in metaphase in different morula mutants. These phenotypes suggest that morula acts to block mitosis-promoting activity in both the endo cycle and at the metaphase/anaphase transition of the mitotic cycle. Consistent with this, we found cyclin B protein to be inappropriately present in morula mutant nurse cells. Thus morula serves a dual function as a cell cycle regulator that promotes exit from mitosis and maintains the absence of mitosis during the endo cycle, possibly by activating the cyclin destruction machinery.


Development ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 61 (1) ◽  
pp. 277-287
Author(s):  
A. J. Copp

The number of trophoblast giant cells in outgrowths of mouse blastocysts was determined before, during and after egg-cylinder formation in vitro. Giant-cell numbers rose initially but reached a plateau 12 h before the egg cylinder appeared. A secondary increase began 24 h after egg-cylinder formation. Blastocysts whose mural trophectoderm cells were removed before or shortly after attachment in vitro formed egg cylinders at the same time as intact blastocysts but their trophoblast outgrowths contained fewer giant cells at this time. The results support the idea that egg-cylinder formation in vitro is accompanied by a redirection of the polar to mural trophectoderm cell movement which characterizes blastocysts before implantation. The resumption of giant-cell number increase in trophoblast outgrowths after egg-cylinder formation may correspond to secondary giant-cell formation in vivo. It is suggested that a time-dependent change in the strength of trophoblast cell adhesion to the substratum occurs after blastocyst attachment in vitro which restricts the further entry of polar cells into the outgrowth and therefore results in egg-cylinder formation.


2001 ◽  
Vol 114 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-267 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Abrieu ◽  
M. Doree ◽  
D. Fisher

Throughout oocyte maturation, and subsequently during the first mitotic cell cycle, the MAP kinase cascade and cyclin-B-Cdc2 kinase are associated with the control of cell cycle progression. Many roles have been directly or indirectly attributed to MAP kinase and its influence on cyclin-B-Cdc2 kinase in different model systems; yet a principle theme does not emerge from the published literature, some of which is apparently contradictory. Interplay between these two kinases affects the major events of meiotic maturation throughout the animal kingdom, including the suppression of DNA replication, the segregation of meiotic chromosomes, and the prevention of parthenogenetic activation. Central to many of these events appears to be the control by MAP kinase of cyclin translation and degradation.


1997 ◽  
Vol 136 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-135 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hiro M. Mahbubani ◽  
James P.J. Chong ◽  
Stephane Chevalier ◽  
Pia Thömmes ◽  
J. Julian Blow

The replication licensing factor (RLF) is an essential initiation factor that is involved in preventing re-replication of chromosomal DNA in a single cell cycle. In Xenopus egg extracts, it can be separated into two components: RLF-M, a complex of MCM/P1 polypeptides, and RLF-B, which is currently unpurified. In this paper we investigate variations in RLF activity throughout the cell cycle. Total RLF activity is low in metaphase, due to a lack of RLF-B activity and the presence of an RLF inhibitor. RLF-B is rapidly activated on exit from metaphase, and then declines during interphase. The RLF inhibitor present in metaphase extracts is dependent on the activity of cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks). Affinity depletion of Cdks from metaphase extracts removed the RLF inhibitor, while Cdc2/cyclin B directly inhibited RLF activity. In metaphase extracts treated with the protein kinase inhibitor 6-dimethylaminopurine (6-DMAP), both cyclin B and the RLF inhibitor were stabilized although the extracts morphologically entered interphase. These results are consistent with studies in other organisms that invoke a key role for Cdks in preventing re-replication of DNA in a single cell cycle.


1992 ◽  
Vol 70 (10-11) ◽  
pp. 1200-1208 ◽  
Author(s):  
Darren D. Browning ◽  
Keith E. Lewis ◽  
Danton H. O'Day

Sexual development in Dictyostelium discoideum has many unique features making it an attractive eukaryotic model system for the study of biomembrane fusion and intercellular communication. The work presented here provides primary biochemical evidence for two distinct phases during early sexual development that appear to be defined by calcium-dependent gamete cell fusion. In addition, we introduce a novel procedure for the enrichment of zygote giant cells and use this method to define certain wheat-germ agglutinin binding glycoproteins which are specifically located in zygote giant cells and others which are markers for surrounding amoebae in the second phase of development. In addition, a G protein which is present in high amounts early in development is unique to giant cells in the second phase, suggesting a role in phagocytosis. Finally, alkaline phosphatase activity was found to mark the first phase of sexual development, suggesting a role in cell fusion. This contrasts with the patterns of α-mannosidase and β-glucosidase activity that increase late in the second developmental phase, where they likely function in endocyte digestion during the cytophagic period. The developmental significance of these findings is discussed.Key words: zygote giant cell differentiation, Ca2+, glycoproteins, GTP-binding proteins, alkaline phosphatase, glycosidase, cell fusion.


2000 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 95-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
N Sahgal ◽  
GT Knipp ◽  
B Liu ◽  
BM Chapman ◽  
G Dai ◽  
...  

The prolactin (PRL) family is comprised of a group of hormones/cytokines that are expressed in the anterior pituitary, uterus, and placenta. These proteins participate in the control of maternal and fetal adaptations to pregnancy. In this report, we have identified two new nonclassical members of the rat PRL family through a search of the National Center for Biotechnology Information dbEST database. The cDNAs were sequenced and their corresponding mRNAs characterized. Overall, the rat cDNAs showed considerable structural similarities with mouse proliferin-related protein (PLF-RP) and prolactin-like protein-F (PLP-F), consistent with their classification as rat homologs for PLF-RP and PLP-F. The expression of both cytokines/hormones was restricted to the placenta. The intraplacental sites of PLF-RP and PLP-F synthesis differed in the rat and the mouse. In the mouse, PLF-RP was expressed in the trophoblast giant cell layer of the midgestation chorioallantoic and choriovitelline placentas and, during later gestation, in the trophoblast giant cell and spongiotrophoblast layers within the junctional zone of the mouse chorioallantoic placenta. In contrast, in the rat, PLF-RP was first expressed in the primordium of the chorioallantoic placenta (ectoplacental cone region) and, later, exclusively within the labyrinth zone of the chorioallantoic placenta. In the mouse, PLP-F is an exclusive product of the spongiotrophoblast layer, whereas in the rat, trophoblast giant cells were found to be the major source of PLP-F, with a lesser contribution from spongiotrophoblast cells late in gestation. In summary, we have established the presence of PLF-RP and PLP-F in the rat.


2003 ◽  
Vol 77 (10) ◽  
pp. 5975-5984 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jun Tang ◽  
Gabriel M. Gordon ◽  
Maike G. Müller ◽  
Madhu Dahiya ◽  
Kimberly E. Foreman

ABSTRACT Kaposi's sarcoma (KS)-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) (also known as human herpesvirus 8) is a gamma-2 herpesvirus believed to be the etiologic agent responsible for KS. The pathogenesis of this potentially life-threatening neoplasm is complex and unclear, and it is currently unknown how KSHV causes KS. Id (named for inhibitor of DNA binding or inhibitor of differentiation) proteins were identified in 1990 and found to be naturally occurring dominant-negative inhibitors of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors. Id-1, the most well-studied member of this family, has since been shown to play a key role in several biological systems including cellular differentiation, cell cycle regulation, and tumorigenesis. In this report, we demonstrate that Id-1 is expressed at high levels in KS tumor cells both in vitro and in vivo but is expressed at relatively modest levels in endothelial cells (ECs), the likely precursor of the KS tumor cell. Infection of precursor cells with KSHV may be responsible for this enhanced expression, as KSHV infection induced Id-1 27-fold in ECs under our experimental conditions. Furthermore, we demonstrate that the KSHV-encoded latency-associated nuclear antigen (LANA) protein appears to be involved. Expression of LANA in ECs resulted in Id-1 induction that was almost identical to the induction seen with KSHV-infected ECs. These results demonstrate the expression of Id-1 in KS tumor cells and indicate the KSHV LANA protein may be, at least in part, responsible. This may be an important mechanism by which KSHV allows KS tumor cells to escape normal cell cycle regulation and enhances their proliferation.


1994 ◽  
Vol 107 (10) ◽  
pp. 2789-2799 ◽  
Author(s):  
R.Y. Poon ◽  
K. Yamashita ◽  
M. Howell ◽  
M.A. Ershler ◽  
A. Belyavsky ◽  
...  

A key component of Cdc2/Cdk2-activating kinase (CAK) is p40MO15, a protein kinase subunit that phosphorylates the T161/T160 residues of p34cdc2/p33cdk2. The level and activity of p40MO15 were essentially constant during cleavage of fertilised Xenopus eggs and in growing mouse 3T3 cells, but serum starvation of these cells reduced both the level and activity of p40MO15. Although the level and activity of endogenous p40MO15 did not vary in the cell cycle, we found that bacterially expressed p40MO15 was activated more rapidly by M-phase cell extracts than by interphase cell extracts. Bacterially expressed p40MO15 was phosphorylated mainly on serine 170 (a p34cdc2 phosphorylation site) by mitotic cell extracts, but mutation of S170 to alanine did not affect the activation of p40MO15, whereas mutation of T176 (the equivalent site to T161/T160 in p34cdc2/p33cdk2) abolished the activation of P40MO15. These studies suggest that the level and activity of p40MO15 is probably not a major determinant of p34cdc2/p33cdk2 activity in the cell cycle, and that the activation of p40MO15 may require phosphorylation on T176.


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