MicroRNAs and the neural crest: From induction to differentiation
Publication date: Available online 31 May 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Andrea M.J. WeinerAbstractMicroRNAs are small noncoding RNAs that can control gene expression by base pairing to partially complementary mRNAs. Regulation by microRNAs plays essential roles in diverse biological processes such as neural crest formation during embryonic development. The neural crest is a multipotent cell population that develops from the dorsal neural fold of vertebrate embryos in order to migrate extensively and differentiate into a variety of tissues. Gene regulatory networks that coordinate neural crest cell specifi...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Early postnatal development of the visual cortex in mice with retinal degeneration
This study characterizes the early postnatal development of the visual neocortex in C3H/HeNRj mice. These mice are homozygous for the Pde6brd1 mutation, which causes retinal degeneration starting from postnatal day 7 (P7). To monitor the development of the visual cortex between P3 and P28 we used eight antigens known to be expressed at different developmental stages (Nestin, tau3, β3- Tubulin, Calbindin, Doublecortin, MAP2, Parvalbumin and NeuN).Using semiquantitative analysis we traced the expression and localization of different developmental markers throughout the layers of the visual cortex. Cortical tissue sections c...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Genetic interaction between Gli3 and Ezh2 during limb pattern formation
Publication date: June 2018Source: Mechanisms of Development, Volume 151Author(s): Steven J. Deimling, Kimberly Lau, Chi-chung Hui, Sevan HopyanAbstractAnteroposterior polarity of the early limb bud is essential for proper skeletal pattern formation. In order to establish anterior identity, hedgehog signalling needs to be repressed by GLI3 repressor activity, although the mechanism of repression is not well defined. Here we describe genetic interaction between Gli3 and Enhancer of Zeste 2 (Ezh2) that encodes the histone methyltransferase subunit of Polycomb Repressive Complex 2. Loss of anterior limb identity was evident i...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

The role of the Rx homeobox gene in retinal progenitor proliferation and cell fate specification
Publication date: June 2018Source: Mechanisms of Development, Volume 151Author(s): H.M. Rodgers, V.J. Huffman, V.A. Voronina, M. Lewandoski, P.H. MathersAbstractThe Retinal homeobox gene (Rx; also Rax) plays a crucial role in the early development of the vertebrate eye. Germline deletion of Rx in mice results in the failure of optic vesicle formation, leading to anophthalmia. Recent research using conditional mouse knockout models provides some clues to the role of Rx in eye development following optic vesicle formation. However, the functions of Rx in embryonic retinogenesis are still not fully understood. We investigated...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Ift25 is not a cystic kidney disease gene but is required for early steps of kidney development
Publication date: June 2018Source: Mechanisms of Development, Volume 151Author(s): Paurav B. Desai, Jovenal T. San Agustin, Michael W. Stuck, Julie A. Jonassen, Carlton M. Bates, Gregory J. PazourAbstractEukaryotic cilia are assembled by intraflagellar transport (IFT) where large protein complexes called IFT particles move ciliary components from the cell body to the cilium. Defects in most IFT particle proteins disrupt ciliary assembly and cause mid gestational lethality in the mouse. IFT25 and IFT27 are unusual components of IFT-B in that they are not required for ciliary assembly and mutant mice survive to term. The mut...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Editorial Board
Publication date: June 2018Source: Mechanisms of Development, Volume 151Author(s): (Source: Mechanisms of Development)
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Fos metamorphoses: Lessons from mutants in model organisms
Publication date: Available online 5 June 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Carlos Alfonso-Gonzalez, Juan Rafael Riesgo-EscovarAbstractThe Fos oncogene gene family is evolutionarily conserved throughout Eukarya. Fos proteins characteristically have a leucine zipper and a basic region with a helix-turn-helix motif that binds DNA. In vertebrates, there are several Fos homologs. They can homo- or hetero-dimerize via the leucine zipper domain. Fos homologs coupled with other transcription factors, like Jun oncoproteins, constitute the Activator Protein 1 (AP-1) complex. From its original inception as an oncogene,...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

A role for Lin-28 in growth and metamorphosis in Drosophila melanogaster
Publication date: Available online 14 June 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Sergio González-Itier, Esteban G. Contreras, Juan Larraín, Álvaro Glavic, Fernando FaunesAbstractInsect metamorphosis has been a classic model to understand the role of hormones in growth and timing of developmental transitions. In addition to hormones, transitions in some species are regulated by genetic programs, such as the heterochronic gene network discovered in C. elegans. However, the functional link between hormones and heterochronic genes is not clear. The heterochronic gene lin-28 is involved in the maintenance of stem c...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Superoxide dismutase 1 expression is modulated by the core pluripotency transcription factors Oct4, Sox2 and Nanog in embryonic stem cells
Publication date: Available online 19 June 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Claudia Solari, María Victoria Petrone, Camila Vazquez Echegaray, María Soledad Cosentino, Ariel Waisman, Marcos Francia, Lino Barañao, Santiago Miriuka, Alejandra GubermanAbstractRedox homeostasis is vital for cellular functions and to prevent the detrimental consequences of oxidative stress. Pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) have an enhanced antioxidant system which supports the preservation of their genome. Besides, reactive oxygen species (ROS) are proposed to be involved in both self-renewal maintenance and in differentiation in ...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Notch signaling in the division of germ layers in bilaterian embryos
Publication date: Available online 22 June 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): María Belén Favarolo, Silvia L. LópezAbstractBilaterian embryos are triploblastic organisms which develop three complete germ layers (ectoderm, mesoderm, and endoderm). While the ectoderm develops mainly from the animal hemisphere, there is diversity in the location from where the endoderm and the mesoderm arise in relation to the animal-vegetal axis, ranging from endoderm being specified between the ectoderm and mesoderm in echinoderms, and the mesoderm being specified between the ectoderm and the endoderm in vertebrates. A commo...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Bone regeneration after traumatic skull injury in Xenopus tropicalis
Publication date: Available online 2 July 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): David Muñoz, Héctor Castillo, Juan Pablo Henríquez, Sylvain MarcelliniAbstractThe main purpose of regenerative biology is to improve human health by exploiting cellular and molecular mechanisms favoring tissue repair. In recent years, non-mammalian vertebrates have emerged as powerful model organisms to tackle the problem of tissue regeneration. Here, we analyze the process of bone repair in metamorphosing Xenopus tropicalis tadpoles subjected to traumatic skull injury. Five days after skull perforation, a dense and highly vascular...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

γ-Tubulin small complex formation is essential for early zebrafish embryogenesis
Publication date: Available online 3 July 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Luis Pouchucq, Cristian A. Undurraga, Ricardo Fuentes, Mauricio Cornejo, Miguel L. Allende, Octavio MonasterioAbstractThe centrosomal protein γ-tubulin is part of the cytoplasmic γ-tubulin small (γ-TuSCs) and large complexes (γ-TuRCs). Both, molecular and cellular evidence indicate that γ-tubulin plays a central role in microtubule nucleation and mitotic spindle formation. However, the molecular mechanisms of complex formation and subsequent biological roles in animal development remain unclear. Here, we used γ-tubulin gene knoc...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Mechanisms of stress-related muscle atrophy in fish: An ex vivo approach
Publication date: Available online 5 July 2018Source: Mechanisms of DevelopmentAuthor(s): Julia Torres-Velarde, Raúl Llera-Herrera, Teresa García-Gasca, Alejandra García-GascaAbstractMuscle development involves coordinated molecular events leading to cell proliferation, fusion, differentiation, sarcomere assembly, and myofibrogenesis. However, under physiological or pathological stress, energy requirements and secretion of glucocorticoids increase, resulting in muscle atrophy because of the depletion of energy reserves. Glucocorticoids induce muscular atrophy by two main mechanisms, protein degradation through the ubiqu...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Anisotropy of cell division and epithelial sheet bending via apical constriction shape the complex folding pattern of beetle horn primordia
Publication date: August 2018Source: Mechanisms of Development, Volume 152Author(s): Haruhiko Adachi, Keisuke Matsuda, Teruyuki Niimi, Yasuhiro Inoue, Shigeru Kondo, Hiroki GotohAbstractInsects can dramatically change their outer morphology at molting. To prepare for this drastic transformation, insects generate new external organs as folded primordia under the old cuticle. At molting, these folded primordia are physically extended to form their final outer shape in a very short time. Beetle horns are a typical example. Horn primordia are derived from a flat head epithelial sheet, on which deep furrows are densely added to...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research

Distinct roles for the cell adhesion molecule Contactin2 in the development and function of neural circuits in zebrafish
Publication date: August 2018Source: Mechanisms of Development, Volume 152Author(s): Suman Gurung, Emilia Asante, Devynn Hummel, Ashley Williams, Oren Feldman-Schultz, Mary C. Halloran, Vinoth Sittaramane, Anand ChandrasekharAbstractContactin2 (Cntn2)/Transient Axonal Glycoprotein 1 (Tag1), a neural cell adhesion molecule, has established roles in neuronal migration and axon fasciculation in chick and mouse. In zebrafish, antisense morpholino-based studies have indicated roles for cntn2 in the migration of facial branchiomotor (FBM) neurons, the guidance of the axons of the nucleus of the medial longitudinal fascicle (nucM...
Source: Mechanisms of Development - July 11, 2018 Category: Biology Source Type: research