Ectopic engrailed 1 expression in the dorsal midline causes cell death, abnormal differentiation of circumventricular organs and errors in axonal pathfinding

Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (18) ◽  
pp. 4061-4071 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Louvi ◽  
M. Wassef

A series of gain- or loss-of-function experiments performed in different vertebrate species have demonstrated that the Engrailed genes play multiple roles during brain development. In particular, they have been implicated in the determination of the mid/hindbrain domain, in cell proliferation and survival, in neurite formation, tissue polarization and axonal pathfinding. We have analyzed the consequences of a local gain of En function within or adjacent to the endogenous expression domain in mouse and chick embryos. In WEXPZ.En1 transgenic mice (Danielian, P. S. and McMahon, A. P. (1996) Nature 383, 332–334) several genes are induced as a consequence of ectopic expression of En1 in the diencephalic roof (but in a pattern inconsistent with a local di- to mes-encephalon fate change). The development of several structures with secretory function, generated from the dorsal neuroepithelium, is severely compromised. The choroid plexus, subcommissural organ and pineal gland either fail to form or are atrophic. These defects are preceded by an increase in cell death at the dorsal midline. Comparison with the phenotype of Wnt1(sw/sw) (swaying) mutants suggests that subcommissural organ failure is the main cause of prenatal hydrocephalus observed in both strains. The formation of the posterior commissure is also delayed, and errors in axonal pathfinding are frequent. In chick, ectopic expression of En by in ovo electroporation, affects growth and differentiation of the choroid plexus.

Development ◽  
1998 ◽  
Vol 125 (10) ◽  
pp. 1957-1966 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. Koshida ◽  
M. Shinya ◽  
T. Mizuno ◽  
A. Kuroiwa ◽  
H. Takeda

Analyses using amphibian embryos proposed that induction and anteroposterior patterning of the central nervous system is initiated by signals that are produced by the organizer and organizer-derived axial mesoderm. However, we show here that the initial anteroposterior pattern of the zebrafish central nervous system depends on the differential competence of the epiblast and is not imposed by organizer-derived signals. This anteroposterior information is present throughout the epiblast in ectodermal cells that normally give rise both to neural and non-neural derivatives. Because of this information, organizer tissues transplanted to the ventral side of the embryo induce neural tissue but the anteroposterior identity of the induced neural tissue is dependent upon the position of the induced tissue within the epiblast. Thus, otx2, an anterior neural marker, was only ever induced in anterior regions of the embryo, irrespective of the position of the grafts. Similarly, hoxa-1, a posterior neural marker was induced only in the posterior regions. Furthermore, the boundary of each ectopic expression domain on the ventral side was always at an equivalent latitude to that of the endogenous expression of the dorsal side of the embryo. The anteroposterior specification of the epiblast is independent of the dorsoventral specification of the embryo because neural tissues induced in the ventralized embryos also showed anteroposterior polarity. Cell transplantation and RNA injection experiments showed that non-axial marginal mesoderm and FGF signalling is required for anteroposterior specification of the epiblast. However, the requirement for FGF signalling is indirect in that cells with compromised ability to respond to FGF can still respond to anteroposterior positional information.


1993 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 711-719
Author(s):  
J J Ryan ◽  
R Danish ◽  
C A Gottlieb ◽  
M F Clarke

A temperature-sensitive mutant of murine p53 (p53Val-135) was transfected by electroporation into murine erythroleukemia cells (DP16-1) lacking endogenous expression of p53. While the transfected cells grew normally in the presence of mutant p53 (37.5 degrees C), wild-type p53 (32.5 degrees C) was associated with a rapid loss of cell viability. Genomic DNA extracted at 32.5 degrees C was seen to be fragmented into a characteristic ladder consistent with cell death due to apoptosis. Following synchronization by density arrest, transfected cells released into G1 at 32.5 degrees C were found to lose viability more rapidly than did randomly growing cultures. Following release into G1, cells became irreversibly committed to cell death after 4 h at 32.5 degrees C. Commitment to cell death correlated with the first appearance of fragmented DNA. Synchronized cells allowed to pass out of G1 prior to being placed at 32.5 degrees C continued to cycle until subsequently arrested in G1; loss of viability occurred following G1 arrest. In contrast to cells in G1, cells cultured at 32.5 degrees C for prolonged periods during S phase and G2/M, and then returned to 37.5 degrees C, did not become committed to cell death. G1 arrest at 37.5 degrees C, utilizing either mimosine or isoleucine deprivation, does not lead to rapid cell death. Upon transfer to 32.5 degrees C, these G1 synchronized cell populations quickly lost viability. Cells that were kept density arrested at 32.5 degrees C (G0) lost viability at a much slower rate than did cells released into G1. Taken together, these results indicate that wild-type p53 induces cell death in murine erythroleukemia cells and that this effect occurs predominantly in the G1 phase of actively cycling cells.


2010 ◽  
Vol 8 (4) ◽  
pp. 495-497 ◽  
Author(s):  
Adriana Luchs ◽  
Claudia Pantaleão

ABSTRACT Apoptosis or programmed cell death is a physiological process, essential for eliminating cells in excess or that are no longer necessary to the organism, acting on tissue homeostasis, although the phenomenon is also involved in pathological conditions. Apoptosis promotes activation of biochemical pathways inside cells called caspase pathway, of the proteins responsible for the cleavage of several cell substrates, leading to cell death. Antiapoptotic members of the Bcl-2 family (B cell CLL/lymphoma 2), that belong to the intrinsic route of the activation of caspases, such as Bcl-xL (extra-large B-cell lymphoma) and Bcl-w (Bcl-2-like 2), act predominantly to prevent that pro-apoptotic members, such as Bax (Bcl-2-associated X protein) and Bak (Bcl-2 relative bak) lead to cell death. Antiapoptotic molecules are considered potentially oncogenic. Murine models are known to be valuable systems for the experimental analysis of oncogenes in vivo, and for the identification of pharmacological targets for cancer and to assess antitumor therapies. Given the importance of tumorigenesis studies on the immune responses to cancer and the possibility of investigating the participation of antiapoptotic molecules in tumor progression in vivo, the development of new models may be platforms for studies on tumorigenesis, immune antitumor responses, investigation of the ectopic expression of antiapoptotic molecules and immunotherapies for tumors.


Development ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 127 (8) ◽  
pp. 1641-1649
Author(s):  
B. Diaz ◽  
J. Serna ◽  
F. De Pablo ◽  
E.J. de la Rosa

Programmed cell death is an established developmental process in the nervous system. Whereas the regulation and the developmental role of neuronal cell death have been widely demonstrated, the relevance of cell death during early neurogenesis, the cells affected and the identity of regulatory local growth factors remain poorly characterized. We have previously described specific in vivo patterns of apoptosis during early retinal neurogenesis, and that exogenous insulin acts as survival factor (Diaz, B., Pimentel, B., De Pablo, F. and de la Rosa, E. J. (1999) Eur. J. Neurosci. 11, 1624–1632). Proinsulin mRNA was found to be expressed broadly in the early embryonic chick retina, and decreased later between days 6 and 8 of embryonic development, when there was increased expression of insulin-like growth factor I mRNA, absent or very scarce at earlier stages. Consequently, we studied whether proinsulin and/or insulin ((pro)insulin) action in prevention of cell death has physiological relevance during early neural development. In ovo treatment at day 2 of embryonic development with specific antibodies against (pro)insulin or the insulin receptor induced apoptosis in the neuroretina. The distribution of apoptotic cells two days after the blockade was similar to naturally occurring cell death, as visualized by TdT-mediated dUTP nick end labeling. The apoptosis induced by the insulin receptor blockade preferentially affected to the Islet1/2 positive cells, that is, the differentiated retinal ganglion cells. In parallel, the insulin survival effect on cultured retinas correlated with the activation of Akt to a greater extent than with the activation of MAP kinase. These results suggest that the physiological cell death occurring in early stages of retinal development is regulated by locally produced (pro)insulin through the activation of the Akt survival pathway.


2015 ◽  
Vol 2015 ◽  
pp. 1-4
Author(s):  
Marcos Rosa Junior ◽  
Antonio Jose da Rocha ◽  
Adriano Zanon da Silva ◽  
Sergio Rosemberg

Tumors of the pineal region are rare and can be challenging to differentiate by imaging. Papillary tumor of the pineal region (PTPR) was recently recognized as a neoplasm in the World Health Organization (WHO) 2007 classification, arising from specialized ependymocytes in the subcommissural organ, which is located in the pineal region. It is a rare histological type of pineal tumor with only a few cases reported. Here, we describe a case of histologically confirmed PTPR in a 17-year-old man who presented with a headache. A literature review was performed to clarify the clinical, radiological, and pathological features of PTPR. Pineal neoplasms do not have pathognomonic imaging findings; however, we discuss T1 hyperintensity, which is a key for imaging diagnosis according to recent reports. In particular, if the hyperintensity in T1 is not due to fat, calcification, melanin, or hemorrhage in a mass of the posterior commissure or pineal region, the diagnosis of a PTPR may be suggested, as observed in this case.


Development ◽  
1997 ◽  
Vol 124 (22) ◽  
pp. 4673-4683 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Jiang ◽  
E.H. Baehrecke ◽  
C.S. Thummel

During insect metamorphosis, pulses of the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone (ecdysone) direct the destruction of obsolete larval tissues and their replacement by tissues and structures that form the adult fly. We show here that larval midgut and salivary gland histolysis are stage-specific steroid-triggered programmed cell death responses. Dying larval midgut and salivary gland cell nuclei become permeable to the vital dye acridine orange and their DNA undergoes fragmentation, indicative of apoptosis. Furthermore, the histolysis of these tissues can be inhibited by ectopic expression of the baculovirus anti-apoptotic protein p35, implicating a role for caspases in the death response. Coordinate stage-specific induction of the Drosophila death genes reaper (rpr) and head involution defective (hid) immediately precedes the destruction of the larval midgut and salivary gland. In addition, the diap2 anti-cell death gene is repressed in larval salivary glands as rpr and hid are induced, suggesting that the death of this tissue is under both positive and negative regulation. Finally, diap2 is repressed by ecdysone in cultured salivary glands under the same conditions that induce rpr expression and trigger programmed cell death. These studies indicate that ecdysone directs the death of larval tissues via the precise stage- and tissue-specific regulation of key death effector genes.


Genetics ◽  
1994 ◽  
Vol 137 (1) ◽  
pp. 165-174
Author(s):  
T Awasaki ◽  
N Juni ◽  
T Hamabata ◽  
K Yoshida ◽  
M Matsuda ◽  
...  

Abstract Optic morphology (Om) mutations in Drosophila ananassae map to at least 22 loci scattered throughout the genome. They are semidominant, neomorphic, nonpleiotropic, and are associated with the insertion of a retrotransposon, tom. The Om(1A) gene, which is cytogenetically linked to the cut locus, was cloned using a DNA fragment of the cut locus of Drosophila melanogaster as a probe. Three of the eight alleles of Om(1A) examined have insertion of the tom element within a putative cut region. The gamma-ray-induced revertants of Om(1A) are accompanied with cut lethal mutations and rearrangements within the cut coding region. In the eye imaginal discs of the Om(1A) mutants, differentiation of photoreceptor clusters is suppressed, abnormal cell death occurs in the center and the cut protein is expressed ectopically. D. melanogaster flies transformed with a chimeric cut gene under the control of a heat-inducible promoter show excessive cell death in the region anterior to the morphogenetic furrow, suppressed differentiation to photoreceptor clusters and defect in the imaginal eye morphology when subjected to temperature elevation. These findings suggest that the tom element inserted within the Om(1A) region induces ectopic cut expression in the eye imaginal discs, thus resulting in the Om(1A) mutant phenotype.


Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (18) ◽  
pp. 4205-4218 ◽  
Author(s):  
Torsten Bossing ◽  
Andrea H. Brand

Ephrin/Eph signalling is crucial for axonal pathfinding in vertebrates and invertebrates. We identified the Drosophila ephrin orthologue, Dephrin, and describe for the first time the role of ephrin/Eph signalling in the embryonic central nervous system (CNS). Dephrin is a transmembrane ephrin with a unique N terminus and an ephrinB-like cytoplasmic tail. Dephrin binds and interacts with DEph, the Drosophila Eph-like receptor, and Dephrin and DEph are confined to different neuronal compartments. Loss of Dephrin or DEph causes the abberant exit of interneuronal axons from the CNS, whereas ectopic expression of Dephrin halts axonal growth. We propose that the longitudinal tracts in the Drosophila CNS are moulded by a repulsive outer border of Dephrin expression.


Development ◽  
1999 ◽  
Vol 126 (14) ◽  
pp. 3067-3078 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Rodaway ◽  
H. Takeda ◽  
S. Koshida ◽  
J. Broadbent ◽  
B. Price ◽  
...  

The endoderm forms the gut and associated organs, and develops from a layer of cells which emerges during gastrula stages in the vertebrate embryo. In comparison to mesoderm and ectoderm, little is known about the signals which induce the endoderm. The origin of the endoderm is intimately linked with that of mesoderm, both by their position in the embryo, and by the molecules that can induce them. We characterised a gene, zebrafish gata5, which is expressed in the endoderm from blastula stages and show that its transcription is induced by signals originating from the yolk cell. These signals also induce the mesoderm-expressed transcription factor no tail (ntl), whose initial expression coincides with gata5 in the cells closest to the blastoderm margin, then spreads to encompass the germ ring. We have characterised the induction of these genes and show that ectopic expression of activin induces gata5 and ntl in a pattern which mimics the endogenous expression, while expression of a dominant negative activin receptor abolishes ntl and gata5 expression. Injection of RNA encoding a constitutively active activin receptor leads to ectopic expression of gata5 and ntl. gata5 is activated cell-autonomously, whereas ntl is induced in cells distant from those which have received the RNA, showing that although expression of both genes is induced by a TGF-beta signal, expression of ntl then spreads by a relay mechanism. Expression of a fibroblast growth factor (eFGF) or a dominant negatively acting FGF receptor shows that ntl but not gata5 is regulated by FGF signalling, implying that this may be the relay signal leading to the spread of ntl expression. In embryos lacking both squint and cyclops, members of the nodal group of TGF-beta related molecules, gata5 expression in the blastoderm is abolished, making these factors primary candidates for the endogenous TGF-beta signal inducing gata5.


Development ◽  
2002 ◽  
Vol 129 (13) ◽  
pp. 3161-3171 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ruben Adler ◽  
Teri L. Belecky-Adams

The ventral region of the chick embryo optic cup undergoes a complex process of differentiation leading to the formation of four different structures: the neural retina, the retinal pigment epithelium (RPE), the optic disk/optic stalk, and the pecten oculi. Signaling molecules such as retinoic acid and sonic hedgehog have been implicated in the regulation of these phenomena. We have now investigated whether the bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs) also regulate ventral optic cup development. Loss-of-function experiments were carried out in chick embryos in ovo, by intraocular overexpression of noggin, a protein that binds several BMPs and prevents their interactions with their cognate cell surface receptors. At optic vesicle stages of development, this treatment resulted in microphthalmia with concomitant disruption of the developing neural retina, RPE and lens. At optic cup stages, however, noggin overexpression caused colobomas, pecten agenesis, replacement of the ventral RPE by neuroepithelium-like tissue, and ectopic expression of optic stalk markers in the region of the ventral retina and RPE. This was frequently accompanied by abnormal growth of ganglion cell axons, which failed to enter the optic nerve. The data suggest that endogenous BMPs have significant effects on the development of ventral optic cup structures.


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