International Journal of Developmental Biology

The gene KIAA0319-Like (KIAA0319L) is thought to confer susceptibility for developmental dyslexia. Dyslexia may be caused by alterations in neuronal migration, and in utero knockdown of KIAA0319L in rats indicated migration errors. However, studies carried out with KIAA0319L knockout mice did not reveal an altered neuronal migration phenotype. Gene knockout may activate compensatory mechanisms to buffer against genetic mutations during development. Here we assessed the role of KIAA0319L on migrating neurons in the chick developing tectum...

BACKGROUND: Acute myocardial infarction (AMI) is myocardial necrosis caused by the complete or partial obstruction of a coronary artery. Circular RNAs (circRNAs) have been proven as regulators in the progression of various human diseases, including AMI. However, the role of novel circ-JA760602 in AMI remains unknown. Here, we investigated the role of circ-JA760602 in modulating the apoptosis of hypoxia-induced AMI cell model. METHODS: The expression of circ-JA760602 in cardiomyocytes treated with hypoxia was measured by quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (qRT-PCR)...

SOX transcription factors play key roles in cell differentiation and cell fate determination during development. Using single-cell RNA-sequencing data, we examined the expression profiles of Sox genes in the mouse incisor dental pulp. Our analysis showed that Sox4 , Sox5 , Sox9 , Sox11 , and Sox12 are mainly expressed in mesenchymal stem/stromal cells (MSCs) representing osteogenic cells at different stages of differentiation. We found that in several MSCs, Sox genes co-expressed with regulatory genes such as Sp7 , Satb2 , Msx1 , Snai2 , Dlx1 , Twist2 , and Tfap2a ...

Abnormally high concentrations of all-trans retinoic acid (atRA) induce cleft palate, which is accompanied by abnormal migration and proliferation of mouse embryonic palatal mesenchyme (MEPM) cells. Hormone-sensitive lipase (HSL) is involved in many embryonic development processes. The current study was designed to elucidate the mechanism of HSL in cleft palate induced by atRA. To establish a cleft palate model in Kunming mice, pregnant mice were administered atRA (70 mg/kg) by gavage at embryonic Day 10.5 (E10...

All tetrapods (mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians) share the ability to breathe with their mouths closed due to the formation of choanae, which are openings that allow communication between the nasal and oral cavities. In most fishes, the nasal cavities serve a strictly olfactory function, possessing incurrent and excurrent nares that lie outside of the mouth and therefore, never communicate with the respiratory system. It is not until the evolution of tetrapods, in which the nasal cavities consistently open into the mouth, that they are used both for olfaction and for respiration...

Biotechniques, including surrogate propagation derived from primordial germ cell (PGC) transplantation, are valuable tools for the reconstitution of endangered fish species. Although promising, there are no previous studies reporting such approaches using neotropical fish species. The aim of this study was to establish germline chimeras in neotropical fish by using the yellowtail tetra Astyanax altiparanae as a model species of the order Characiformes. Germline chimeras were obtained after transplantation of PGCs cultivated under different conditions: saline medium and supplemented with DMEM, amino acids, vitamins, glutamine, pyruvate, and fetal bovine serum, and subsequently transplanted into A...

The nucleocytoplasmic translocation of yes-associated protein 1 (YAP1) controls the growth of animal tissues and organs. YAP1 binds to transcription factors in the nucleus to activate the transcription of proliferation and anti-apoptotic genes. The Hippo pathway prevents the nuclear translocation of YAP1 by phosphorylating YAP1, while mechanical forces promote it by opening the nuclear pore complex and stimulating other signaling pathways. Recently we found that Protein salvador homolog 1 (SAV1), a component of the Hippo pathway, interacts with filamin A (FLNA) in a force-dependent manner, raising a possibility that the Hippo pathway is regulated by mechanical force through the FLNA-SAV1 axis...

Epigenetic mechanisms are one of the essential regulators of gene expression which do not involve altering the primary nucleotide sequence. DNA methylation is considered among the most prominent epigenetic mechanisms in controlling the functions of genes related to cell differentiation, cell cycle, cell survival, autophagy, and embryo development. DNA methyl transferases (Dnmts) control DNA methylation, the levels of which are differentially altered during embryonic development, and may determine cell differentiation fate as in the case of pluripotent inner cell mass (ICM) or trophectoderm (TE)...

Myocardial regeneration is identified as a concept at histological level. The core content is to increase the number of cardiomyocytes (CMs), so as to maintain the steady state of CMs under pathological or physiological conditions and ensure the normal cardiac function. In this review, we discussed the relevant factors involved in the regeneration of CMs, generalized in mice, large mammals and human. During different development stages of mammalian hearts, CMs showed several controlling and growth modes on the physiological or pathological state: mitosis, hypertrophy, nuclear polyploidy and multinucleation, amitosis and etc...

Cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2), a member of the Cyclooxygenase family, initiates the biosynthesis of prostanoids that regulates various cellular functions. Our pilot attempt revealed that administration of etoricoxib, an inhibitor specific for COX-2, induces abnormal looping in the chicken heart. The present study attempts to reveal the mechanistic details of etoricoxibinduced abnormal cardiac looping. The activity of COX-2 was inhibited by administering 3.5 μg of etoricoxib into the air cell of the egg on day zero of incubation...

Synergids are metabolically dynamic cells of the egg apparatus and represent an important component of the female gametophyte. Besides directing the growth of the pollen tube towards the micropylar end of the embryo sac, these ephemeral structures make room for the pollen tube cytoplasm. Nature of chemotrophic substances that direct the growth of the pollen tube, the mechanism of degeneration of one of the synergids before fertilization and the molecular aspects of synergid morphogenesis have been studied in detail...

It has long been held that the main difference between cranial and trunk neural crest (CNC and TNC, respectively) was the potential of CNC to originate mesenchymal cell types, especially skeletogenic. This is an age-old question that continues to challenge researchers, even today. Unfortunately, to date, no consensus has concluded the extent of TNC mesenchymal potential, nor has a systematic review been conducted to organize current knowledge about this fascinating question. However, the number of studies related to this question have expanded and deepened considerably in the last few years thanks to several new different species of vertebrates employed, the generation of transgenic animal strains, the combination of cell markers, and also the improvement of cell culture conditions through the use of different substrates and signaling molecules...

The movement of continuous sheets of epithelial cells occurs during embryonic development, tissue repair, and cancer. Common to cellular and molecular principles of collective cell migration, invading cancers seem to reactivate embryonic pathways and patterns of cell movement. Epithelial cells possess the capability to become mesenchymal cells in a process called epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), which has been extensively studied and described. The aim of this article is to summarizes the most recent literature data concerning less known epithelial-endothelial transition and endothelial-mesenchymal transition...

In the postnatal mammalian brain, neurogenic activity is retained in anatomically restricted areas, driven by pools of Neural Stem Cells (NSCs). These cells and their progeny have been studied intensively as potential targets for regenerative treatments, aiming either to their in situ manipulation, or to their use as sources of cells for transplantation-based strategies. Although their full identity, heterogeneity and differentiation potential remain elusive, due to the absence of specific cell-type markers, our knowledge on their properties is constantly expanding...

Avian cerebellum, a highly conserved, laminated and foliated structure, provides an excellent model for developmental studies. During the intermediate embryonic stages, granule cell progenitor proliferation and the inwards migration of post-mitotic granule cells have been implicated in the morphogenesis of cerebellar cortex cytoarchitecture and foliation. The present study questioned the spatio-temporal expression pattern of pleiotrophin, an extracellular matrix growth factor, during the morphogenesis of embryonic cerebellum and the roles of ionotropic AMPA glutamate receptors and the diffusible neuromodulator nitric oxide (NO) in the proliferation pattern of EGL granule cell progenitors...

Although histone methyltransferases are implicated in many key developmental processes, the contribution of individual chromatin modifiers in dental tissues is not well understood. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we examined the expression profiles of the disruptor of telomeric silencing 1-like ( Dot1L) gene in the postnatal day 5 mouse molar dental pulp. Dot1L is the only known enzyme that methylates histone 3 on lysine 79, a modification associated with gene expression. Our research revealed 15 distinct clusters representing different populations of mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), immune cells, pericytes, ameloblasts and endothelial cells...

Intraflagellar transport (IFT) is an essential condition for ciliogenesis. The primary cilia protrude like antennae and act as chemical or mechanical sensory organelles that coordinate specific receptor localization and signal transduction. IFT20 is the smallest molecule in IFT complex B, which is located in both the cilia and the Golgi complex. Recent studies have shown that IFT20 is a key molecule in multiple signaling pathways. Importantly, in the function of IFT20, signal transduction is not restricted to cilia, but is also involved in non-ciliary functions...

The aim of this study was to investigate the correlation between CDK1 protein and CDK1 mRNA during oocyte maturation in vivo in mouse. GV, GVBD, MI and MII oocytes were obtained from mice, respectively. Western blot validated that the CDK1 protein expression increased continuously and significantly with oocyte maturation in vivo (P<0.05). Real-time qRT-PCR showed that CDK1 mRNA expression was down-regulated significantly during transformation from GV to MI stages (P<0.05), and up-regulated significantly during transformation from MI to MII stages (P<0...

Aristotle made important contributions to many fields-biology, physics, metaphysics, logic, ethics, rhetoric, psychology, aesthetics, poetry- that are now cultivated by specialized experts, but he never lost sight of the aim of unifying knowledge, of understanding the world as an organized whole. Aristotle was the first to combine wet, field biology with daring cosmological thinking. He is the father of natural history and the first embryologist known to history. Aristotle's classic treatises History of Animals/Περί ζῴων ἱστορίαι , and On the Generation of Animals/ Περί ζῴων γενέσεως "enjoyed for more than fifteen hundred years an authority altogether without parallel"...

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