The early development of mystacial vibrissae in the mouse

Development ◽  
1984 ◽  
Vol 83 (1) ◽  
pp. 137-156
Author(s):  
Joan T. Wrenn ◽  
Norman K. Wessells

The initial generation of the pattern of mystacial vibrissae (whiskers) in the mouse is described. The maxillary process is present in 10-day embryos but has a relatively flat surface. Beginning at approximately 11·5 days, the first sign of vibrissal development is the formation of ridges and grooves on the maxillary and lateral nasal processes. The first vibrissal rudiment to form subsequently appears posterior to the most ventral groove on the maxillary process. It is the most ventral whisker of the posterior, vertical row. The next few rudiments appear: (1) dorsal to the first, also in the vertical row; and (2) anterior to the first, on the ventral-most ridge and in the groove beneath it. Formation of vibrissal rudiments continues in a dorsal and anterior progression usually by an apparent partitioning of the ridges into vibrissal units. The hypothesis that this patterning of mystacial vibrissae might be determined by the pattern of innervation in the early mouse snout was investigated. Nerve trunks and branches are present in the maxillary process well before any sign of vibrissal formation. Because innervation is so widespread there appears to be no immediate temporal correlation between the outgrowth of a nerve branch to a site and the generation of a vibrissa there. Furthermore, at the time just prior to the formation of the first follicle rudiment, there is little or no nerve branching to the presumptive site of that first follicle while branches are found more dorsally where vibrissae will not form until later. Thus, a one-to-one spatial correlation between nerve and follicle sites also appears to be lacking. The developmental changes in ultrastructure within the neurites of the trunks and branches as well as the apparent rearrangements of the nerve trunks suggest that early innervation of the snout is a labile phenomenon and that the vibrissal pattern begins to be established before the neural pattern is completely developed. The results indicate that vibrissal pattern formation is likely to be a complex process relying on the interplay of the cells and tissues involved, rather than on unidirectional instructions from neurons to other cell types.

The strategy of heart tissue engineering is simple enough: first remove all the cells from a organ then take the protein scaffold left behind and repopulate it with stem cells immunologically matched to the patient in need. While various suc- cessful methods for decellularization have been developed, and the feasibility of using decellularized whole hearts and extracellular matrix to support cells has been demonstrated, the reality of creating whole hearts for transplantation and of clinical application of decellularized extracellular matrix-based scaffolds will require much more research. For example, further investigations into how lineage-restricted progenitors repopulate the decellularized heart and differentiate in a site-specific manner into different populations of the native heart would be essential. The scaffold heart does not have to be human. Pig hearts carries all the essential components of the extracellular matrix. Through trial and error, scaling up the concentration, timing and pressure of the detergents, researchers have refined the decellularization process on hundreds of hearts and other organs, but this is only the first step. Further, the framework must be populated with human cells. Most researchers in the field use a mixture of two or more cell types, such as endothelial precursor cells to line blood vessels and muscle progenitors to seed the walls of the chambers. The final challenge is one of the hardest: vasculariza- tion, placing a engineered heart into a living animal, integration with the recipient tissue, and keeping it beating for a long time. Much remains to be done before a bioartificial heart is available for transplantation in humans.


Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 118 (4) ◽  
pp. 1353-1361
Author(s):  
J.M. Baltz ◽  
J.D. Biggers ◽  
C. Lechene

Most cell types are relatively impermeant to H+ and are able to regulate their intracellular pH by means of plasma membrane proteins, which transport H+ or bicarbonate across the membrane in response to perturbations of intracellular pH. Mouse preimplantation embryos at the 2-cell stage, however, do not appear to possess specific pH-regulatory mechanisms for relieving acidosis. They are, instead, highly permeable to H+, so that the intracellular pH in the acid and neutral range is determined by the electrochemical equilibrium of H+ across the plasma membrane. When intracellular pH is perturbed, the rate of the ensuing H+ flux across the plasma membrane is determined by the H+ electrochemical gradient: its dependence on external K+ concentration indicates probable dependence on membrane potential and the rate depends on the H+ concentration gradient across the membrane. The large permeability at the 2-cell stage is absent or greatly diminished in the trophectoderm of blastocysts, but still present in the inner cell mass. Thus, the permeability to H+ appears to be developmentally regulated.


1991 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 583-586 ◽  
Author(s):  
D.J. Whitby ◽  
M.T. Longaker ◽  
M.R. Harrison ◽  
N.S. Adzick ◽  
M.W. Ferguson

Wound healing is a complex process involving the interaction of many cell types with the extracellular matrix (ECM). Fetal skin wound healing differs from that in the adult in that it occurs rapidly and without scar formation. The mechanisms underlying these differing processes may be related to the fetal environment, the stage of differentiation of the fetal cells or the ECM deposited in the wound. The spatial and temporal distribution of two components of the ECM, fibronectin and tenascin, were studied by immunostaining of cryosections from trunk wounds of fetal and adult sheep. Epithelialisation was complete earlier in the fetal wound than in the adult. The distribution of fibronectin was similar in fetal and adult wounds but tenascin was present earlier in the fetal wound. Fibronectin has several roles in wound healing including acting as a substratum for cell migration and as a mediator of cell adhesion through cell surface integrins. The attachment of fibroblasts to fibronectin is inhibited by tenascin and during development the appearance of tenascin in the ECM of migratory pathways correlates with the initiation of cell migration. Similarly, the appearance of tenascin in healing wounds may initiate cell migration. Tenascin was present in these wounds prior to cell migration and the rapid epithelialisation of fetal wounds may be due to the early appearance of tenascin in the wound.


Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 1135-1144 ◽  
Author(s):  
T.P. Fleming ◽  
M. Hay ◽  
Q. Javed ◽  
S. Citi

The molecular maturation of the tight junction in the mouse early embryo has been investigated by monitoring the distribution of cingulin, a 140 × 10(3) M(r) peripheral (cytoplasmic) membrane constituent of the junction, at different stages of development and in different experimental situations. Although tight junction formation does not begin until compaction at the 8-cell stage, cingulin is detectable in oocytes and all stages of cleavage, a factor consistent with our biochemical analysis of cingulin expression (Javed et al., 1992, Development 117, 1145–1151). Using synchronised egg and embryo stages and isolated cell clusters, we have identified three sites where cingulin is localised, the cytocortex, punctate cytoplasmic foci and tight junctions themselves. Cytocortical cingulin is present at the cumulus-oocyte contact site (both cell types), in unfertilised and fertilised eggs and in cleavage stages up to 16-cell morulae, particularly at microvillous domains on the embryo outer surface (eg. apical poles at compaction). Embryo manipulation experiments indicate that cortical cingulin is labile and dependent upon cell interactions and therefore is not merely an inheritance from the egg. Cingulin cytoplasmic foci are evident only in outer cells (prospective trophectoderm) from the 32-cell stage, just prior to cavitation, and decline from approx. 8 hours after cavitation has initiated. The appearance of these foci is insensitive to cycloheximide treatment and they colocalise with apically derived endocytic vesicles visualised by FITC-dextran, indicating that the foci represent the degradation of cytocortical cingulin by endocytic turnover. Cingulin is detectable at the tight junction site between blastomeres usually from the 16-cell stage, although earlier assembly occurs in a minority (up to 20%) of specimens. Cingulin assembly at the tight junction is sensitive to cycloheximide and is identifiable approx. 10 hours after cell adhesion is initiated and ZO-1 protein assembles. Collectively, our results indicate that (i) cingulin from nonjunctional sites does not contribute to tight junction assembly and (ii) the molecular maturation of the junction appears to occur progressively over at least two cell cycles.


2012 ◽  
Vol 2 (4) ◽  
pp. 465-486 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hye-Won Kang ◽  
Likun Zheng ◽  
Hans G. Othmer

Pattern formation in development is a complex process which involves spatially distributed signals called morphogens that influence gene expression and thus the phenotypic identity of cells. Usually different cell types are spatially segregated, and the boundary between them may be determined by a threshold value of some state variable. The question arises as to how sensitive the location of such a boundary is to variations in properties, such as parameter values, that characterize the system. Here, we analyse both deterministic and stochastic reaction-diffusion models of pattern formation with a view towards understanding how the signalling scheme used for patterning affects the variability of boundary determination between cell types in a developing tissue.


Zygote ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 173-179
Author(s):  
Jane C. Fenelon ◽  
Baozeng Xu ◽  
Jay M. Baltz

SummaryRecovery from decreased cell volume is accomplished by a regulated increase of intracellular osmolarity. The acute response is activation of inorganic ion transport into the cell, the main effector of which is the Na+/H+ exchanger NHE1. NHE1 is rapidly activated by a cell volume decrease in early embryos, but how this occurs is incompletely understood. Elucidating cell volume-regulatory mechanisms in early embryos is important, as it has been shown that their dysregulation results in preimplantation developmental arrest. The kinase JAK2 has a role in volume-mediated NHE1 activation in at least some cells, including 2-cell stage mouse embryos. However, while 2-cell embryos show partial inhibition of NHE1 when JAK2 activity is blocked, NHE1 activation in 1-cell embryos is JAK2-independent, implying a requirement for additional signalling mechanisms. As focal adhesion kinase (FAK aka PTK2) becomes phosphorylated and activated in some cell types in response to decreased cell volume, we sought to determine whether it was involved in NHE1 activation in the early mouse embryo. FAK activity requires initial autophosphorylation of a tyrosine residue, Y397. However, FAK Y397 phosphorylation levels were not increased in either 1- or 2-cell embryos after cell volume was decreased. Furthermore, the selective FAK inhibitor PF-562271 did not affect NHE1 activation at concentrations that essentially eliminated Y397 phosphorylation. Thus, autophosphorylation of FAK Y397 does not appear to be required for NHE1 activation induced by a decrease in cell volume in early mouse embryos.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wang ◽  
Amir Rattner ◽  
Jeremy Nathans

AbstractThe iris controls the level of retinal illumination by controlling pupil diameter. It is a site of diverse ophthalmological diseases and it is a potential source of cells for ocular auto-transplantation. The present study provides foundational data on the mouse iris based on single nucleus RNA sequencing. More specifically, this work has (1) defined all of the major cell types in the mouse iris and ciliary body, (2) led to the discovery of two types of iris stromal cells and two types of iris sphincter cells, (3) revealed the differences in cell type-specific transcriptomes in the resting, constricted, and dilated states, and (4) identified and validated antibody and in situ hybridization probes that can be used to visualize the major iris cell types. By immunostaining for specific iris cell-types, we have observed and quantified distortions in nuclear morphology associated with iris dilation and clarified the neural crest contribution to the iris by showing that Wnt1-Cre-expressing progenitors contribute to nearly all iris cell types, whereas Sox10-Cre-expressing progenitors contribute only to stromal cells. This work should be useful as a point of reference for investigations of iris development, disease, and pharmacology, for the isolation and propagation of defined iris cell types, and for iris cell engineering and transplantation.


Development ◽  
2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Esther Jeong Yoon Kim ◽  
Lydia Sorokin ◽  
Takashi Hiiragi

Development entails patterned emergence of diverse cell types within the embryo. In mammals, cells positioned inside the embryo give rise to the inner cell mass (ICM) that eventually forms the embryo proper. Yet the molecular basis of how these cells recognise their ‘inside’ position to instruct their fate is unknown. Here we show that provision of extracellular matrix (ECM) to isolated embryonic cells induces ICM specification and alters subsequent spatial arrangement between epiblast (EPI) and primitive endoderm (PrE) cells that emerge within the ICM. Notably, this effect is dependent on integrin β1 activity and involves apical to basal conversion of cell polarity. We demonstrate that ECM-integrin activity is sufficient for ‘inside’ positional signalling and it is required for proper EPI/PrE patterning. Our findings thus highlight the significance of ECM-integrin adhesion in enabling position-sensing by cells to achieve tissue patterning.


eLife ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jie Wang ◽  
Amir Rattner ◽  
Jeremy Nathans

The iris controls the level of retinal illumination by controlling pupil diameter. It is a site of diverse ophthalmologic diseases and it is a potential source of cells for ocular auto-transplantation. The present study provides foundational data on the mouse iris based on single nucleus RNA sequencing. More specifically, this work has (1) defined all of the major cell types in the mouse iris and ciliary body, (2) led to the discovery of two types of iris stromal cells and two types of iris sphincter cells, (3) revealed the differences in cell type-specific transcriptomes in the resting vs. dilated states, and (4) identified and validated antibody and in situ hybridization probes that can be used to visualize the major iris cell types. By immunostaining for specific iris cell types, we have observed and quantified distortions in nuclear morphology associated with iris dilation and clarified the neural crest contribution to the iris by showing that Wnt1-Cre-expressing progenitors contribute to nearly all iris cell types, whereas Sox10-Cre-expressing progenitors contribute only to stromal cells. This work should be useful as a point of reference for investigations of iris development, disease, and pharmacology, for the isolation and propagation of defined iris cell types, and for iris cell engineering and transplantation.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ainhoa Plaza-Zabala ◽  
Virginia Sierra-Torre ◽  
Amanda Sierra

Autophagy is a complex process that encompasses the enclosure of cytoplasmic debris or dysfunctional organelles in membranous vesicles, the autophagosomes, for their elimination in the lysosomes. Autophagy is increasingly recognized as a critical process in macrophages, including microglia, as it finely regulates innate immune functions such as inflammation. A gold-standard method to assess its induction is the analysis of the autophagic flux using as a surrogate the expression of the microtubule-associated light chain protein 3 conjugated to phosphatidylethanolamine (LC3-II) by Western blot, in the presence of lysosomal inhibitors. Therefore, the current definition of autophagy flux actually puts the focus on the degradation stage of autophagy. In contrast, the most important autophagy controlling genes that have been identified in the last few years in fact target early stages of autophagosome formation. From a biological standpoint is therefore conceivable that autophagosome formation and degradation are independently regulated and we argue that both stages need to be systematically analyzed. Here, we propose a simple two-step model to understand changes in autophagosome formation and degradation using data from conventional LC3-II Western blot, and test it using two models of autophagy modulation in cultured microglia: rapamycin and the ULK1/2 inhibitor, MRT68921. Our two-step model will help to unravel the effect of genetic, pharmacological, and environmental manipulations on both formation and degradation of autophagosomes, contributing to dissect out the role of autophagy in physiology and pathology in microglia as well as other cell types.


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