施氏獭蛤融合卯裂及其胚胎发育过程观察

对施氏獭蛤胚胎发育过程进行了观察,结果显示:(1)与其他双壳类相似,施氏獭蛤胚胎发育过程可以分为卵裂期、囊胚期、原肠期、担轮幼虫期和面盘幼虫期;(2)在卵裂阶段,施氏獭蛤的卵裂方式完全不同于其他动物;施氏獭蛤卵子发育到第一次成熟分裂前期(胚泡破裂前)即有受精能力,但卵子受精后未观察到极体排出的现象,而是有多核受精卵产生;在以后的卵裂过程中,受精卵没有进行其他动物的经裂或纬裂,而是以一种独特的、复杂的分裂方式--融合卵裂进行卵裂,即:二细胞、叫细胞、八细胞进行下一次卵裂之前,细胞核逐渐消失,分裂球逐渐融合成一个细胞,一段时间后在细胞中央逐渐出现数量加倍的细胞核,细胞核逐渐向外周移动,最后一次性地分裂出数量加倍的分裂球.     

林蛙卵细胞第一次分裂沟形成和回复时的扫描电镜观察

林蛙受精卵表面有三种细微结构:丘状突起、细丝和小颗粒。前者在所有卵的整个表面都出现,后两者只在一些卵的部分区域出现。卵裂开始时,原先在细胞表面的“黑色”老膜随分裂沟内陷,因为在陷入的分裂沟表面上能看到上述三种结构。卵裂继续进行,深陷的分裂沟表面出现较为光滑的“灰白色”新膜。将固定的裂球沿分裂沟掰开,在分裂沟内新膜和细胞质的交界处,以及老膜和细胞质的交界处可看到成堆的突起,它们可能是新膜的来源之一。受精卵经细胞松弛素B处理后,卵裂照常进行。当分裂沟的前端到达卵的背(灰色新月区)腹区时,背部分裂沟首先开始回复(出现白色斑块),新膜外翻;稍后或同时,动物极处亦出现外翻的新膜,最后是腹区外翻。这时卵表面出现“川”字形;背区的回复分裂沟端成“V”字形,腹区成“γ”形,说明受精卵的背腹区对细胞松弛素B的反应是不同的。当卵裂进行到背腹区之下时,上述区域性就难以看到了。     

人工授精平角涡虫早期胚胎和幼虫的扫描电镜观察

为探明平角涡虫(Planocera reticulata)胚胎发育规律,采用人工授精方法,获得不同发育阶段的无卵外胶膜胚胎,并运用扫描电镜技术,观察了受精卵早期胚胎发育和幼虫发育.结果表明,从第3次卵裂开始表现出螺旋式卵裂的特征.在囊胚时期和原肠时期在动物极顶端有几个卵裂球向内下陷形成一凹陷.浮游幼虫期的幼虫利用体表纤...     

绵羊卵核移植成功

英国AFRC动物生理研究所的S.M.Willadsen.博士(1986)利用细胞工程技术将绵羊未受精卵去核,而将绵羊发育早期胚胎的一个分裂球和去核卵融合,融合后的卵移植至母羊体中使其发育,成功地诞生了新的仔羊。受精卵在发生过程中,细胞核和细胞质双方均起着重要的作用,而细胞核移植则是研究发生过程中核     

爪蟾胚胎原肠中期背方中胚层的组织分化

原肠中期内卷的背方中胚层出现了分别控制脊索和肌肉发育的专一分子的区域化表达。为了研究这个时期的背方中胚层是否已经能够在脱离体内信号的情况下向预定命运分化,我们进行了预定脊索和预定肌肉组织的体外培养,以及两者的共培养,并检测了细胞表达组织专一性分子的情况。原肠中期的预定脊索区域和预定体节区域都能在体外分化成相应的组织——空泡化的脊索和肌细胞,但脊索只能微弱表达其功能分子Shh,肌细胞不能形成肌节。预定脊索区域和预定肌肉区域的共培养也无法增强脊索表达Shh和促进肌细胞形成肌节。我们的结论是,原肠中期内卷的中胚层细胞已经具有了朝预定命运独立分化的能力,但进一步形成功能和结构都完整的相应组织可能还需要周围组织的作用。     

对诱导因子的探索

受精卵经卵裂、囊胚期而到原肠期。近来很多发育生物学家对囊胚期在发育过程中的功能特感兴趣。一般认为,囊胚中期细胞具有化学的分化。原肠期开始有形态上的分化,背唇(Spemann的组织者)诱导外胚层形成脑、脊索及肌细胞等;中胚层和内胚层分区,自主分化产     

核移植技术研究进展

核移植(nuelear transplation,NT)是将动物早期胚胎或体细胞的细胞核移植到去核的受精卵或成熟卵母细胞中、重新构建新的胚胎,使重构胚发育为与供核细胞基因型相同后代的技术过程,又称动物克隆技术。广义的胚胎克隆技术还包括胚胎分割和卵裂球培养,通常所指的胚胎克隆技术是指狭义概念,即核移植技术。1938年Spmann在所有胚胎细胞都具有与受精卵完全相同、拥有潜在发育全能性的细胞核基础上提出了细胞核移植的概念[‘1。早期核移植实验是在变形虫、蛙、爪蟾、非洲爪蛙等两栖类和鱼类上进行的核质关系研究〔“一“〕,随着胚胎技术的不断进步…     

青鳉干细胞及其应用

干细胞广泛存在于多细胞生物的早期胚胎和成体组织中.干细胞的多能性和易操作性使其在发育生物学和再生医学上具有巨大的研究和应用价值,如细胞发育潜能的调控、细胞命运的决定、细胞治疗等.干细胞培养是研究干细胞研究工作的基础,主要集中在小鼠、人和青鳉这3种脊椎动物上.青鳉是一种小型淡水鱼,常被用作发育生物学和生物医学研究的模式物种.本文将主要介绍青鳉干细胞系及其应用.青鳉的MES1是除小鼠以外的第一个胚干细胞系;SG3是第一个成体精原干细胞系,可以在体外形成具有运动能力的精子;HX1是首个单倍体胚干细胞系,通过核移植技术,将该单倍体细胞的细胞核移植到未受精卵细胞中,得到第一个可育的半克隆动物霍利.这些突破使青鳉毫无疑问地成为干细胞研究的理想模式.     

果蝇胚胎背腹图式的早期形成

果蝇卵的背腹极性和胚胎的背腹组织图式依赖于不同的背腹图式基因。在卵细胞发生中,背腹雌性致死基因最早表达,并可能通过生殖细胞和体细胞间的信息交流,使营养细胞和卵泡细胞分别在适当位置围绕卵细胞。雌性致死基因突变体的卵室中,3种细胞的异常分布使卵细胞外壳失去正常背腹极性。并且通过卵细胞内母体效应基因产物在背腹轴上异常分布,使胚胎发育成背方化或腹方化。母体效应基因cac的产物可能与d1蛋白结合,而使d1蛋白在留细胞质内。d1组其它基因产物通过蛋白酶解过程,将d1蛋白从cac复合体中解离,并转移到卵裂核内,形成从腹方到背方的形态发生原浓度梯度。不同浓度的核内d1蛋白能够抑制或激活不同的合子背腹基因的表达。在背腹轴水平上不同区域表达的合子基因产物最后通过调节组织分化基因,而决定局部的囊胚细胞向着不同类型的组织分化,形成正常的背腹组织图式。     

凹耳臭蛙胚胎发育及其分类学意义(英文)

通过人工受精的方法获得的凹耳臭蛙(Odorrana tormota)的早期胚胎及胚后幼体的发育过程,根据胚胎发育过程中的形态及生理特征变化规律进行分期。把凹耳臭蛙的发育过程分成两个阶段:1)早期胚胎发育阶段,即从蛙卵受精到鳃盖完成期,在18～23℃水温下,凹耳臭蛙早期胚胎发育阶段历时324h;2)蝌蚪发育阶段,即从鳃盖完成期结束到尾部被完全吸收,本阶段在20～24℃水温条件下历时1207h。凹耳臭蛙蝌蚪未发现腹吸盘特征,从形态特征上支持了分子系统分类学将之从湍蛙属划出的观点。实验中发现,多数胚胎在8细胞期为纬裂,16细胞期为经裂,同时有小部分胚胎(1.5%)在8细胞期为经裂,16细胞期为纬裂。该文进一步讨论了影响卵裂率、孵化率、发育速度,以及生态适应的因素。     

Autonomous differentiation of dorsal axial structures from an animal cap cleavage stage blastomere in Xenopus

Dorsal or ventral blastomeres of the 16- and 32-cell stage animal hemisphere were labeled with a lineage dye and transplanted into the position of a ventral, vegetal midline blastomere. The donor blastomeres normally give rise to substantial amounts of head structures and central nervous system, whereas the blastomere which they replaced normally gives rise to trunk mesoderm and endoderm. The clones derived from the transplanted ventral blastomeres were found in tissues appropriate for their new position, whereas those derived from the transplanted dorsal blastomeres were found in tissues appropriate for their original position. The transplanted dorsal clones usually migrated into the host's primary axis (D1.1, 92%; D1.1.1, 69%; D1.1.2, 100%), and in many cases they also induced and populated a secondary axis (D1.1, 43%; D1.1.1, 67%; D1.1.2, 63%). Bilateral deletion of the dorsal blastomeres resulted in partial deficits of dorsal axial structures in the majority of cases, whereas deletions of ventral midline blastomeres did not. When the dorsal blastomeres were cultured as explants they elongated. Notochord and cement glands frequently differentiated in these explants. These studies show that the progeny of the dorsal, midline, animal blastomeres: (1) follow their normal lineage program to populate dorsal axial structures after the blastomere is transplanted to the opposite pole of the embryo; (2) induce and contribute to a secondary axis from their transplanted position in many embryos; (3) are important for the normal formation of the entire length of the dorsal axis; and (4) autonomously differentiate in the absence of exogenous growth factor signals. These data indicate that by the 16-cell stage, these blastomeres have received instructions regarding their fate, and they are intrinsically capable of carrying out some of their developmental program.     

Early cellular interactions promote embryonic axis formation in Xenopus laevis

We have attempted to define the location and mode of action of axial determinants in the egg of Xenopus laevis. To this end, we transplanted small numbers of blastomeres from normal 64-cell stage embryos into synchronous recipient embryos which had been irradiated with ultraviolet light prior to first cleavage. Without transplantation, such embryos fail to develop dorsal structures of the embryonic body axis. We found that one to three blastomeres transplanted from the vegetal-most octet of cells can effect complete or partial rescue of of axis development in a recipient, provided that the donor cells derive from the quadrant just under the prospective dorsal marginal region. These same cells, when transplanted into the ventral vegetal quadrant of a normal 64-cell embryo, cause the formation of a complete second body axis. In contrast, other cells from the vegetal octet of normal donors fail to cause axis formation. When the rescuing donor cells are labeled with a lineage-restricted fluorescent marker, we find that their progeny do not contribute to the axial structures of the recipient. Progeny of the transplanted cells are found below the level of the blastopore in the early gastrula and eventually give rise to portions of the gut, as is their fate in normal development. These results, in agreement with those of Nieuwkoop (P.D. Nieuwkoop, 1977, Curr. Top. Dev. Biol. 11, 115-132), imply that the dorsal-most vegetal cells of the 64-cell embryo receive from the egg cytoplasm a set of determinants enabling them to induce neighboring cells to undertake axis formation. We discuss the relationship between axis induction in rescued irradiated embryos and axis determining processes in normal embryogenesis.     

Peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase xFKBP1B induces ectopic secondary axis and is involved in eye formation during Xenopus embryogenesis

Although Xenopus FKBP1A (xFKBP1A) induces an ectopic dorsal axis in Xenopus embryos, involvement of xFKBP1B, a vertebrate paralogue of FKBP1A, in embryogenesis remains undetermined. Here, we demonstrate that xFKBP1B induces ectopic dorsal axis and involves in eye formation of Xenopus embryos. Injection of the xFKBP1B mRNA in ventral blastomeres of 4-cell stage Xenopus embryos induced a secondary axis and showed multiplier effect to that of xFKBP1A on this when xFKBP1A was co-injected. In addition, BMP4 and Smad1 mRNAs did not affect the ability of xFKBP1B to induce the ectopic secondary axis when either was co-injected with xFKBP1B in ventral blastomeres, whereas they downed out that of xFKBP1A, suggesting that xFKBP1A and xFKBP1B induce the ectopic secondary axis through affecting different pathways from each other. On the other hand, the injection of the FKBP1B mRNA in dorsal blastomeres showed eye malformation, and suppressed almost completely the expression of Rx1, Mitf, and Vax2 mRNAs. xFKBP1B was expressed in the dorsal side of the embryo including the eye during embryogenesis at least until stage 46. Injection of morpholino of the xFKBP1B mRNA in dorsal blastomeres induced additional retina or failed to close tapetum nigrum in the ventral side within the optic cap, whereas it did not affect the dorsal organ development. The injection of the morpholino reduced the expression of Xotx2 and Rx1 mRNAs in the eye. These observations suggest that xFKBP1B is a key factor that regulates the expression levels of the genes involved in eye formation during Xenopus embryogenesis.     

Dorsal Blastomeres in the Equatorial Region of the 32-Cell Xenopus Embryo Autonomously Produce Progeny Committed to the Organizer

For testing the autonomic differentiation abilities of dorsal equatorial blastomeres of 32-cell Xenopus embryos, their roles in head formation in normal development and the organizer-inducing capabilities of the dorsal-most vegetal cells, interspecific transplantations were made using Xenopus borealis and X. laevis . When transplanted into the ventral region, the dorsal blastomeres produced descendants that differentiated into prechordal mesoderm, notochord and somites in the recipient according to their fates. They induced formation of the secondary embryo with the head and tail. The prechordal mesoderm and notochord in the secondary structure consisted of progeny of the graft, whereas somites and the CNS were chimeric and the pronephros was composed of host cells. Replacement of the dorsal blastomeres by ventral equatorial cells caused complete arrest of head formation in the recipient. Without exception, the notochord was completely absent or very thin. These results confirm the assumption that the presumptive head organizer in the Xenopus embryo is localized in the dorsal equatorial region at the 32-cell stage and comes into existence not under the inductive influence of the dorsal-most vegetal cells, but owing to allocation of morphogenetic determinants residing in the fertilized egg to the dorsal equatorial blastomeres of the 32-cell embryo.     

A cytoplasmic determinant for dorsal axis formation in an early embryo of Xenopus laevis

In Xenopus laevis, dorsal cells that arise at the future dorsal side of an early cleaving embryo have already acquired the ability to cause axis formation. Since the distribution of cytoplasmic components is markedly heterogeneous in an egg and embryo, it has been supposed that the dorsal cells are endowed with the activity to form axial structures by inheriting a unique cytoplasmic component or components localized in the dorsal region of an egg or embryo. However, there has been no direct evidence for this. To examine the activity of the cytoplasm of dorsal cells, we injected cytoplasm (dorsal cytoplasm) from dorsal vegetal cells of a Xenopus 16-cell embryo into ventral vegetal cells of a simultaneous recipient. The cytoplasm caused secondary axis formation in 42% of recipients. Histological examination revealed that well-developed secondary axes included notochord, as well as a neural tube and somites. However, injection of cytoplasm of ventral vegetal cells never caused secondary axis and most recipients became normal tailbud embryos. Furthermore, about two-thirds of ventral isolated halves injected with dorsal cytoplasm formed axial structures. These results show that dorsal, but not ventral, cytoplasm contains the component or components responsible for axis formation. This can be the first step towards identifying the molecular basis of dorsal axis formation.     

Spatial distribution of the capacity to initiate a secondary embryo in the 32-cell embryo of Xenopus laevis

To examine the spatial distribution of dorsal determinants in the early embryos of Xenopus laevis, individual cells from the 32-cell embryo were transplanted into the same tier of the ventral side of a synchronous recipient. Their abilities to initiate a secondary embryo were measured by the incidence of secondary embryos and by the length of the secondary axis relative to the primary embryo. The ability was found to be localized in all cells (A1, B1, C1, and D1) of the dorsal most column and in the vegetal cells (C2 and D2) of the dorsolateral column. Transplanted C1 (subequatorial) cells caused the highest incidence of a secondary embryo and the average relative length of the secondary embryo was also greatest. Effectiveness decreased in the order: D1, B1, D2, C2, and A1. When these results were compared with Dale and Slack's fate map of the 32-cell embryo, it was concluded that the distribution of dorsal determinants is unique and does not coincide with the prospective regions for any tissues, though it is somewhat similar to the prospective region of dorsal endoderm or notochord. From these results it seems that dorsal determinants do not determine a particular tissue in an embryo but rather the "dorsal" region of an embryo.     

Pattern regulation in defect embryos of Xenopus laevis

Defect embryos of 24 series were prepared by removing increasing numbers of blastomeres from an 8-cell embryo of Xenopus laevis. They were cultured and their development was examined macroscopically when controls reached a tailbud stage or later. Results show that most of defect embryos of 12 series develop normally, and some of them become normal frogs. Each of these defect embryos contain at least two animal blastomeres, one dorsal, and one ventral blastomere of the vegetal hemisphere. This suggests that a set of these four blastomeres of the three types is essential for complete pattern regulation.     

Expression of Epi 1, an epidermis-specific marker in Xenopus laevis embryos, is specified prior to gastrulation

The induction of morphologically observable neural structures occurs as the result of tissue interactions between chordamesoderm and overlying ectoderm beginning at gastrulation. Since the future dorsal, and hence neural, side of the embryo is determined around the time of fertilization, we questioned whether the presumptive neural epithelium might have received some developmental instructions prior to contact with the migrating chordamesoderm. Epi 1, a cell surface antigen present only on epidermal epithelium was used as a marker to determine when epithelial cells have been programmed to express (or not express) this epidermal-specific molecule. We find that ligated animal halves of precleavage embryos already contain all the information necessary for expression of Epi 1 at the appropriate developmental time (early neurula). By at least the eight-celled stage, the epithelial cells derived from ventral animal blastomeres are much better at expressing the Epi 1 antigen than their dorsal counterparts. We suggest that the mechanisms responsible for expression of the Epi 1 antigen are localized within the animal hemisphere prior to the onset of cleavage. By the third cleavage division, dorsal animal cells appear to have received information which inhibits the subsequent expression of this epidermal antigen.     

Specification of secondary mesenchyme-derived cells in relation to the dorso-ventral axis in sea urchin blastulae

To learn how the dorso-ventral (DV) axis of sea urchin embryos affects the specification processes of secondary mesenchyme cells (SMC), a fluorescent dye was injected into one of the macromeres of 16-cell stage embryos, and the number of each type of labeled SMC was examined at the prism stage. A large number of labeled pigment cells was observed in embryos in which the progeny of the labeled macromere were distributed in the dorsal part of the embryo. In contrast, labeled pigment cells were scarcely noticed when the descendants of the labeled macromere occupied the ventral part. In such embryos, free mesenchyme cells (probably blastocoelar cells) were predominantly labeled. CH3COONa treatment, which is known to increase the number of pigment cells, canceled such patterned specification of pigment cells and blastocoelar cells along the DV axis. Pigment cells were also derived from the ventral blastomere in the treated embryo. In contrast, a similar number of coelomic pouch cells was derived from the labeled macromere, irrespective of the position of its descendants along the DV axis. After examination of the arrangement of blastomeres in late cleavage stage embryos, it was determined that 17-20 veg2-derived cells encircled the cluster of micromere descendants after the 9th cleavage. From this number and the numbers of SMC-derived cells in later stage embryos, it was suggested that the most vegetally positioned veg2 descendants at approximately the 9th cleavage were preferentially specified to pigment and blastocoelar cell lineages. The obtained results also suggested the existence of undescribed types of SMC scattered in the blastocoele.