scholarly journals Quantitative Relationships Between Growth, Differentiation, and Shape That Control Drosophila Eye Development and Its Variation

Author(s):  
Francisco Javier Lobo-Cabrera ◽  
Tomás Navarro ◽  
Antonella Iannini ◽  
Fernando Casares ◽  
Alejandro Cuetos

The size of organs is critical for their function and often a defining trait of a species. Still, how organs reach a species-specific size or how this size varies during evolution are problems not yet solved. Here, we have investigated the conditions that ensure growth termination, variation of final size and the stability of the process for developmental systems that grow and differentiate simultaneously. Specifically, we present a theoretical model for the development of the Drosophila eye, a system where a wave of differentiation sweeps across a growing primordium. This model, which describes the system in a simplified form, predicts universal relationships linking final eye size and developmental time to a single parameter which integrates genetically-controlled variables, the rates of cell proliferation and differentiation, with geometrical factors. We find that the predictions of the theoretical model show good agreement with previously published experimental results. We also develop a new computational model that recapitulates the process more realistically and find concordance between this model and theory as well, but only when the primordium is circular. However, when the primordium is elliptical both models show discrepancies. We explain this difference by the mechanical interactions between cells, an aspect that is not included in the theoretical model. Globally, our work defines the quantitative relationships between rates of growth and differentiation and organ primordium size that ensure growth termination (and, thereby, specify final eye size) and determine the duration of the process; identifies geometrical dependencies of both size and developmental time; and uncovers potential instabilities of the system which might constraint developmental strategies to evolve eyes of different size.

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (2) ◽  
pp. 216-242 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mayuri Shukla ◽  
Areechun Sotthibundhu ◽  
Piyarat Govitrapong

The revelation of adult brain exhibiting neurogenesis has established that the brain possesses great plasticity and that neurons could be spawned in the neurogenic zones where hippocampal adult neurogenesis attributes to learning and memory processes. With strong implications in brain functional homeostasis, aging and cognition, various aspects of adult neurogenesis reveal exuberant mechanistic associations thereby further aiding in facilitating the therapeutic approaches regarding the development of neurodegenerative processes in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD). Impaired neurogenesis has been significantly evident in AD with compromised hippocampal function and cognitive deficits. Melatonin the pineal indolamine augments neurogenesis and has been linked to AD development as its levels are compromised with disease progression. Here, in this review, we discuss and appraise the mechanisms via which melatonin regulates neurogenesis in pathophysiological conditions which would unravel the molecular basis in such conditions and its role in endogenous brain repair. Also, its components as key regulators of neural stem and progenitor cell proliferation and differentiation in the embryonic and adult brain would aid in accentuating the therapeutic implications of this indoleamine in line of prevention and treatment of AD.   


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 168-175 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lin-Jun Sun ◽  
Chong Li ◽  
Xiang-hao Wen ◽  
Lu Guo ◽  
Zi-Fen Guo ◽  
...  

Background:: Icariin (ICA), one of the main effective components isolated from the traditional Chinese herb Epimedium brevicornu Maxim., has been reported to possess extensive pharmacological actions, including enhanced sexual function, immune regulation, anti-inflammation, and antiosteoporosis. Methods:: Our study was designed to investigate the effect of ICA on cell proliferation and differentiation and the molecular mechanism of OPG/RANKL mediated by the Estrogen Receptor (ER) in hFOB1.19 human osteoblast cells. Results:: The experimental results show that ICA can stimulate cell proliferation and increase the activity of Alkaline Phosphatase (ALP), Osteocalcin (BGP) and I Collagen (Col I) and a number of calcified nodules. Furthermore, the mRNA and protein expression of OPG and RANKL and the OPG/ RANKL mRNA and protein expression ratios were upregulated by ICA. The above-mentioned results indicated that the optimal concentration of ICA for stimulating osteogenesis was 50ng/mL. Subsequent mechanistic studies comparing 50ng/mL ICA with an estrogen receptor antagonist demonstrated that the effect of the upregulated expression is connected with the estrogen receptor. In conclusion, ICA can regulate bone formation by promoting cell proliferation and differentiation and upregulating the OPG/RANKL expression ratio by the ER in hFOB1.19 human osteoblast cells.


2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (7) ◽  
pp. 666-673 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sujuan Ding ◽  
Gang Liu ◽  
Hongmei Jiang ◽  
Jun Fang

The rapid self-renewal of intestinal epithelial cells enhances intestinal function, promotes the nutritional needs of animals and strengthens intestinal barrier function to resist the invasion of foreign pathogens. MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are a class of short-chain, non-coding RNAs that regulate stem cell proliferation and differentiation by down-regulating hundreds of conserved target genes after transcription via seed pairing to the 3' untranslated regions. Numerous studies have shown that miRNAs can improve intestinal function by participating in the proliferation and differentiation of different cell populations in the intestine. In addition, miRNAs also contribute to disease regulation and therefore not only play a vital role in the gastrointestinal disease management but also act as blood or tissue biomarkers of disease. As changes to the levels of miRNAs can change cell fates, miRNA-mediated gene regulation can be used to update therapeutic strategies and approaches to disease treatment.


Cancers ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (14) ◽  
pp. 3485
Author(s):  
Assunta Sellitto ◽  
Giovanni Pecoraro ◽  
Giorgio Giurato ◽  
Giovanni Nassa ◽  
Francesca Rizzo ◽  
...  

Metabolic reprogramming is a well described hallmark of cancer. Oncogenic stimuli and the microenvironment shape the metabolic phenotype of cancer cells, causing pathological modifications of carbohydrate, amino acid and lipid metabolism that support the uncontrolled growth and proliferation of cancer cells. Conversely, metabolic alterations in cancer can drive changes in genetic programs affecting cell proliferation and differentiation. In recent years, the role of non-coding RNAs in metabolic reprogramming in cancer has been extensively studied. Here, we review this topic, with a focus on glucose, glutamine, and lipid metabolism and point to some evidence that metabolic alterations occurring in cancer can drive changes in non-coding RNA expression, thus adding an additional level of complexity in the relationship between metabolism and genetic programs in cancer cells.


Materials ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 224 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jung-Eun Park ◽  
Yong-Seok Jang ◽  
Tae-Sung Bae ◽  
Min-Ho Lee

Multi walled carbon nanotubes-hydroxyapatite (MWCNTs-HA) with various contents of MWCNTs was synthesized using the sol-gel method. MWCNTs-HA composites were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). HA particles were generated on the surface of MWCNT. Produced MWCNTs-HA nanocomposites were coated on pure titanium (PT). Characteristic of the titanium coated MWCNTs-HA was evaluated by field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and XRD. The results show that the titanium surface was covered with MWCNTs-HA nanoparticles and MWCNTs help form the crystalized hydroxyapatite. Furthermore, the MWCNTs-HA coated titanium was investigated for in vitro cellular responses. Cell proliferation and differentiation were improved on the surface of MWCNT-HA coated titanium.


1997 ◽  
Vol 186 (10) ◽  
pp. 1787-1791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pan Zheng ◽  
Yang Liu

It has been proposed that some bystander T cell activation may in fact be due to T cell antigen receptor (TCR) cross-reactivity that is too low to be detected by the effector cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL). However, this hypothesis is not supported by direct evidence since no TCR ligand is known to induce T cell proliferation and differentiation without being recognized by the effector CTL. Here we report that transgenic T cells expressing a T cell receptor to influenza virus A/NT/68 nucleoprotein (NP) 366-374:Db complexes clonally expand and become effector CTLs in response to homologous peptides from either A/PR8/34 (H1N1), A/AA/60 (H2N2), or A/NT/68 (H3N2). However, the effector T cells induced by each of the three peptides kill target cells pulsed with NP peptides from the H3N2 and H2N2 viruses, but not from the H1N1 virus. Thus, NP366–374 from influenza virus H1N1 is the first TCR ligand that can induce T cell proliferation and differentiation without being recognized by CTLs. Since induction of T cell proliferation was mediated by antigen-presenting cells that express costimulatory molecules such as B7, we investigated if cytolysis of H1N1 NP peptide–pulsed targets can be restored by expressing B7-1 on the target cells. Our results revealed that this is the case. These data demonstrated that costimulatory molecule B7 modulates antigen specificity of CTLs, and provides a missing link that explains some of the bystander T cell activation.


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