Incorporation of 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine into mesenchymal limb-bud cells destined to die: relationship to polydactyly induction in rats

Development ◽  
1982 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
pp. 125-141
Author(s):  
L. David Wise ◽  
William J. Scott

The thymidine analogue, 5-bromo-2'-deoxyuridine (BUdR), given at the proper dose and time to pregnant rats produces preaxial hindlimb polydactyly in a high proportion of near term foetuses. The lack of physiological cell death in an area of preaxial mesenchyme known as the foyer primaire preaxial (fpp) is thought to be important in the pathogenesis of this defect. This study addresses the question of whether BUdR's well-known antidifferentiative effects, which are due in some way to drug incorporation into DNA, are operative in this in vivo system. The dose and temporal response of BUdR for the induction of preaxial polydactyly inversely parallels the frequency of embryonic hindlimbs with an fpp. Incorporation of BUdR into degenerative fragments within the fpp of these treated limbs is demonstrated with indirect immunofiuorescence using an antibody to bromouridine. Hindlimbs exposed to a threshold dose of BUdR at the optimal time for producing polydactyly have incorporated the drug into degenerative fragments within the fpp. This suggests that a higher, teratogenic dose of BUdR might likewise be incorporated. The resulting higher level of incorporation presumably alters the normal course of terminal differentiation for these cells originally destined to die. Teratogenic doses of BUdR injected at later than the optimal time are also incorporated into dead cell fragments within the fpp, suggesting that presumptive dead cells have additional rounds of DNA synthesis which are BUdR-insensitive. Approximately 12 h prior to overt death presumptive fpp cells no longer incorporate the drug. Results reported support the hypothesis that incorporation of teratogenic levels of BUdR prevent cell death in the fpp. The extra cells are thought to contribute directly or indirectly to the added digit. Contrary to other views, it is suggested that BUdR-induced teratogenesis can be a result of the drug's antidifferentiative effects on specific, ‘sensitive’, populations of cells.

Development ◽  
1972 ◽  
Vol 27 (1) ◽  
pp. 245-260
Author(s):  
D. A. Ede ◽  
O. P. Flint

Aggregates were prepared from dissociated mesenchyme cells obtained from normal and talpid mutant chick limb buds at stage 26 and were maintained for 4 days in culture. They were shown by autoradiographic techniques to consist initially of populations of unifoimly dedifferentiated cells within which chondrogenesis was initiated between 1 and 2 days, leading to the formation of areas of precartilage in the interior of the aggregates. Measurements of cell population density, cell death and cell division were made in precartilage and non-cartilage regions on sections prepared from normal and mutant aggregates fixed at 1-day intervals and were related to the pattern of chondrogenesis. Non-cartilage areas consisted of cells surrounding the precartilage areas and extended to the surface of the aggregate; these cells showed no special pattern or histochemical reaction. Precartilage areas consisted of one or more “;condensations”, comprising cells arranged in concentric rings around a central cell or group of cells, characterized by uptake of [35S]sulphate and taking up alcian blue stain in the intercellular matrix. Chondrogenesis was initiated al the condensation foci and spread centrifugally. Condensations were arranged in a simple pattern, roughly equidistantly from each other and never at the surface of the aggregate. The shape and arrangement of the cells comprising them suggested that they were formed by a process of aggregation towards the condensation foci. The relation of these observations to events in the intact limb bud developing in vivo is discussed.


1978 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 363-369
Author(s):  
J.M. Hurle ◽  
M. Lafarga ◽  
J.L. Ojeda

Phagocytosis of naturally degenerating cells, by healthy myocardial cells of the bulbus cordis of 5–7-day chick embryos, was studied by electron microscopy. Myocardial cells showed cell processes surrounding dead cell fragments. The cell fragments appeared to be internalized later and digested within phagosomes. Ruthenium red was employed to ascertain whether the cell fragments were in fact internalized or located in pockets of the cell membrane. The results are discussed in the light of present knowledge of phagocytosis.


2018 ◽  
Vol 115 (10) ◽  
pp. E2429-E2436 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stefan Markovic ◽  
Anne Fages ◽  
Tangi Roussel ◽  
Ron Hadas ◽  
Alexander Brandis ◽  
...  

Placental functions, including transport and metabolism, play essential roles in pregnancy. This study assesses such processes in vivo, from a hyperpolarized MRI perspective. Hyperpolarized urea, bicarbonate, and pyruvate were administered to near-term pregnant rats, and all metabolites displayed distinctive behaviors. Little evidence of placental barrier crossing was observed for bicarbonate, at least within the timescales allowed by 13C relaxation. By contrast, urea was observed to cross the placental barrier, with signatures visible from certain fetal organs including the liver. This was further evidenced by the slower decay times observed for urea in placentas vis-à-vis other maternal compartments and validated by mass spectrometric analyses. A clear placental localization, as well as concurrent generation of hyperpolarized lactate, could also be detected for [1-13C]pyruvate. These metabolites also exhibited longer lifetimes in the placentas than in maternal arteries, consistent with a metabolic activity occurring past the trophoblastic interface. When extended to a model involving the administration of a preeclampsia-causing chemical, hyperpolarized MR revealed changes in urea’s transport, as well as decreases in placental glycolysis vs. the naïve animals. These distinct behaviors highlight the potential of hyperpolarized MR for the early, minimally invasive detection of aberrant placental metabolism.


2020 ◽  
Vol 31 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-10
Author(s):  
V. S. Nedzvetsky ◽  
V. Ya. Gasso ◽  
A. M. Hahut ◽  
I. A. Hasso

Cadmium is a common transition metal that entails an extremely wide range of toxic effects in humans and animals. The cytotoxicity of cadmium ions and its compounds is due to various genotoxic effects, including both DNA damage and chromosomal aberrations. Some bone diseases, kidney and digestive system diseases are determined as pathologies that are closely associated with cadmium intoxication. In addition, cadmium is included in the list of carcinogens because of its ability to initiate the development of tumors of several forms of cancer under conditions of chronic or acute intoxication. Despite many studies of the effects of cadmium in animal models and cohorts of patients, in which cadmium effects has occurred, its molecular mechanisms of action are not fully understood. The genotoxic effects of cadmium and the induction of programmed cell death have attracted the attention of researchers in the last decade. In recent years, the results obtained for in vivo and in vitro experimental models have shown extremely high cytotoxicity of sublethal concentrations of cadmium and its compounds in various tissues. One of the most studied causes of cadmium cytotoxicity is the development of oxidative stress and associated oxidative damage to macromolecules of lipids, proteins and nucleic acids. Brain cells are most sensitive to oxidative damage and can be a critical target of cadmium cytotoxicity. Thus, oxidative damage caused by cadmium can initiate genotoxicity, programmed cell death and inhibit their viability in the human and animal brains. To test our hypothesis, cadmium cytotoxicity was assessed in vivo in U251 glioma cells through viability determinants and markers of oxidative stress and apoptosis. The result of the cell viability analysis showed the dose-dependent action of cadmium chloride in glioma cells, as well as the generation of oxidative stress (p <0.05). Calculated for 48 hours of exposure, the LD50 was 3.1 μg×ml-1. The rates of apoptotic death of glioma cells also progressively increased depending on the dose of cadmium ions. A high correlation between cadmium concentration and apoptotic response (p <0.01) was found for cells exposed to 3–4 μg×ml-1 cadmium chloride. Moreover, a significant correlation was found between oxidative stress (lipid peroxidation) and induction of apoptosis. The results indicate a strong relationship between the generation of oxidative damage by macromolecules and the initiation of programmed cell death in glial cells under conditions of low doses of cadmium chloride. The presented results show that cadmium ions can induce oxidative damage in brain cells and inhibit their viability through the induction of programmed death. Such effects of cadmium intoxication can be considered as a model of the impact of heavy metal pollution on vertebrates.


1990 ◽  
Vol 258 (6) ◽  
pp. R1417-R1423 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. E. Crandall ◽  
C. M. Heesch

Arterial baroreflex control of renal sympathetic nerve activity (RSNA) was compared in nonpregnant (NP) and near-term pregnant (P) chloralose-anesthetized rats. Baroreflex curves were obtained by recording reflex changes in RSNA (expressed as a percent of base line) due to increases and decreases in mean arterial pressure (MAP) [intravenous phenylephrine and nitroprusside (NTP)]. The slope, midpoint (EP50), and threshold pressures of the baroreflex curves were compared. Base-line MAP was significantly lower in the pregnant animals (P = 96 +/- 3 vs. NP = 113 +/- 5 mmHg). The baroreflex curves of pregnant animals also had significantly lower threshold (P = 95 +/- 3 vs. NP = 110 +/- 5 mmHg) and midpoint values (P = 105 +/- 4 vs. NP = 119 +/- 5 mmHg). The response to unloading the baroreceptors was attenuated in the pregnant animals as indicated by a decrease in slope of the NTP portion of the baroreflex curve (P = 0.95 +/- 0.17 vs. NP = 1.61 +/- 0.29% nerve activity/mmHg). Responses to blockade of angiotensin-converting enzyme with captopril (2 mg/kg iv) were also examined. There were no differences in EP50 or slope among the control, captopril, and recovery baroreflex curves within either the nonpregnant or pregnant animals. However, after captopril, MAP decreased to a greater extent in the pregnant rats, yet RSNA increased to the same level for the two groups. Thus pregnancy results in a leftward shift of the baroreflex function curve toward a lower operating pressure range. In addition, pregnant rats demonstrated an impaired ability to increase sympathetic outflow above base-line values in response to a hypotensive challenge.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document