Somatic sex-determining signals act on XX germ cells in Drosophila embryos

In Drosophila, the enhancer-trap line mgm1 is already specifically expressed in male germ cells. Staining is first detected in 10-hour-old embryos and it is found in later stem cells. This line, which reveals the earliest sex-specific gene expression in the germline known so far, is a useful molecular marker to assess the sexual pathway that germ cells have entered before any overt sexual dimorphism is apparent. XY germ cells that develop in feminized animals express mgm1, which shows that this marker is autonomously expressed in XY germ cells. However, XX germ cells that develop in masculinized animals also express mgm1. Therefore, somatic sex-determining signals have already acted on XX germ cells in 10-hour-old embryos.

Download Full-text

Effect of Zinc Ions on Differentiation of Bone Marrow-Derived Mesenchymal Stem Cells to Male Germ Cells and Some Germ Cell-Specific Gene Expression in Rams

Biological Trace Element Research ◽

10.1007/s12011-012-9484-8 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 150 (1-3) ◽

pp. 137-146 ◽

Cited By ~ 19

Author(s):

Mohammad Ghasemzadeh-Hasankolai ◽

Roozali Batavani ◽

Mohamadreza Baghaban Eslaminejad ◽

Mohammadali Sedighi-Gilani

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Stem Cells ◽

Bone Marrow ◽

Mesenchymal Stem Cells ◽

Germ Cell ◽

Germ Cells ◽

Specific Gene ◽

Zinc Ions ◽

Male Germ Cells ◽

Specific Gene Expression

Download Full-text

SETDB1 plays an essential role in maintenance of gonocyte survival in pigs

Reproduction ◽

10.1530/rep-17-0107 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 154 (1) ◽

pp. 23-34 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Tiantian Liu ◽

Pengfei Zhang ◽

Tianjiao Li ◽

Xiaoxu Chen ◽

Zhenshuo Zhu ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Stem Cells ◽

Germ Cells ◽

Theoretical Basis ◽

Histone H3 ◽

Embryonic Stem ◽

Male Germ Cells ◽

Heterochromatin Formation ◽

Epigenetic Regulator ◽

And Function

Histone methyltransferase SETDB1 suppresses gene expression and modulates heterochromatin formation through H3K9me2/3. Previous studies have revealed that SETDB1 catalyzes lysine 9 of histone H3 tri-methylation and plays essential roles in maintaining the survival of embryonic stem cells and spermatogonial stem cells in mice. However, the function of SETDB1 in porcine male germ cells remains unclear. The aim of the present study was to reveal the expression profile and function of SETDB1 in porcine germ cells. SETDB1 expression gradually increased during testis development. SETDB1 was strongly localized in gonocytes. Knockdown of SETDB1 gene expression led to gonocyte apoptosis and a decrease in H3K27me3, but no significant change in H3K9me3. These observations suggested that SETDB1 is a novel epigenetic regulator of porcine male germ cells, and contributes to the maintenance of gonocyte survival in pigs, probably due to the regulation of H3K27me3 rather than H3K9me3. These findings will provide a theoretical basis for the future study of epigenetic regulation of spermatogenesis.

Download Full-text

Modulation of Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells by Electrical Stimulation Using an Enzymatic Biofuel Cell

Catalysts ◽

10.3390/catal11010062 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 62

Author(s):

Won-Yong Jeon ◽

Seyoung Mun ◽

Wei Beng Ng ◽

Keunsoo Kang ◽

Kyudong Han ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Stem Cells ◽

Mesenchymal Stem Cells ◽

Electrical Stimulation ◽

Regenerative Medicine ◽

Cell Morphology ◽

Electrical Current ◽

Specific Gene ◽

Next Generation ◽

The Impact

Enzymatic biofuel cells (EBFCs) have excellent potential as components in bioelectronic devices, especially as active biointerfaces to regulate stem cell behavior for regenerative medicine applications. However, it remains unclear to what extent EBFC-generated electrical stimulation can regulate the functional behavior of human adipose-derived mesenchymal stem cells (hAD-MSCs) at the morphological and gene expression levels. Herein, we investigated the effect of EBFC-generated electrical stimulation on hAD-MSC cell morphology and gene expression using next-generation RNA sequencing. We tested three different electrical currents, 127 ± 9, 248 ± 15, and 598 ± 75 nA/cm2, in mesenchymal stem cells. We performed transcriptome profiling to analyze the impact of EBFC-derived electrical current on gene expression using next generation sequencing (NGS). We also observed changes in cytoskeleton arrangement and analyzed gene expression that depends on the electrical stimulation. The electrical stimulation of EBFC changes cell morphology through cytoskeleton re-arrangement. In particular, the results of whole transcriptome NGS showed that specific gene clusters were up- or down-regulated depending on the magnitude of applied electrical current of EBFC. In conclusion, this study demonstrates that EBFC-generated electrical stimulation can influence the morphological and gene expression properties of stem cells; such capabilities can be useful for regenerative medicine applications such as bioelectronic devices.

Download Full-text

Sex-dependent dynamics of metabolism in primary mouse hepatocytes

Archives of Toxicology ◽

10.1007/s00204-021-03118-9 ◽

2021 ◽

Author(s):

Luise Hochmuth ◽

Christiane Körner ◽

Fritzi Ott ◽

Daniela Volke ◽

Kaja Blagotinšek Cokan ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Amino Acid ◽

Sexual Dimorphism ◽

New Drugs ◽

Model Systems ◽

Specific Gene ◽

Primary Hepatocytes ◽

Alcoholic Fatty Liver ◽

Male And Female ◽

Primary Mouse

AbstractThe liver is one of the most sexually dimorphic organs. The hepatic metabolic pathways that are subject to sexual dimorphism include xenobiotic, amino acid and lipid metabolism. Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease and hepatocellular carcinoma are among diseases with sex-dependent prevalence, progression and outcome. Although male and female livers differ in their abilities to metabolize foreign compounds, including drugs, sex-dependent treatment and pharmacological dynamics are rarely applied in all relevant cases. Therefore, it is important to consider hepatic sexual dimorphism when developing new treatment strategies and to understand the underlying mechanisms in model systems. We isolated primary hepatocytes from male and female C57BL6/N mice and examined the sex-dependent transcriptome, proteome and extracellular metabolome parameters in the course of culturing them for 96 h. The sex-specific gene expression of the general xenobiotic pathway altered and the female-specific expression of Cyp2b13 and Cyp2b9 was significantly reduced during culture. Sex-dependent differences of several signaling pathways increased, including genes related to serotonin and melatonin degradation. Furthermore, the ratios of male and female gene expression were inversed for other pathways, such as amino acid degradation, beta-oxidation, androgen signaling and hepatic steatosis. Because the primary hepatocytes were cultivated without the influence of known regulators of sexual dimorphism, these results suggest currently unknown modulatory mechanisms of sexual dimorphism in vitro. The large sex-dependent differences in the regulation and dynamics of drug metabolism observed during cultivation can have an immense influence on the evaluation of pharmacodynamic processes when conducting initial preclinical trials to investigate potential new drugs.

Download Full-text

Identification of leukemic and pre-leukemic stem cells by clonal tracking from single-cell transcriptomics

Nature Communications ◽

10.1038/s41467-021-21650-1 ◽

2021 ◽

Vol 12 (1) ◽

Author(s):

Lars Velten ◽

Benjamin A. Story ◽

Pablo Hernández-Malmierca ◽

Simon Raffel ◽

Daniel R. Leonce ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Gene Expression ◽

Stem Cells ◽

Cancer Stem Cells ◽

Single Cell ◽

Lineage Tracing ◽

Specific Gene ◽

Leukemic Stem Cells ◽

Hematopoietic Stem ◽

Mutational Status

AbstractCancer stem cells drive disease progression and relapse in many types of cancer. Despite this, a thorough characterization of these cells remains elusive and with it the ability to eradicate cancer at its source. In acute myeloid leukemia (AML), leukemic stem cells (LSCs) underlie mortality but are difficult to isolate due to their low abundance and high similarity to healthy hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). Here, we demonstrate that LSCs, HSCs, and pre-leukemic stem cells can be identified and molecularly profiled by combining single-cell transcriptomics with lineage tracing using both nuclear and mitochondrial somatic variants. While mutational status discriminates between healthy and cancerous cells, gene expression distinguishes stem cells and progenitor cell populations. Our approach enables the identification of LSC-specific gene expression programs and the characterization of differentiation blocks induced by leukemic mutations. Taken together, we demonstrate the power of single-cell multi-omic approaches in characterizing cancer stem cells.

Download Full-text