Primary ciliogenesis is a crucial step for multiciliated cell determinism in the respiratory epithelium

The alteration of the mucociliary clearance is a major hallmark of respiratory diseases related to structural and functional cilia abnormalities such as chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD), asthma and cystic fibrosis. Primary cilia and motile cilia are the two principal organelles involved in the control of cell fate in the airways. We tested the effect of primary cilia removal in the establishment of a fully differentiated respiratory epithelium. Epithelial barrier integrity was not altered while multiciliated cells were decreased and mucous-secreting cells were increased. Primary cilia homeostasis is therefore paramount for airway epithelial cell differentiation. Primary cilia-associated pathophysiologic implications require further investigations in the context of respiratory diseases.     

Hedgehog signaling regulates myelination in the peripheral nervous system through primary cilia

Myelination is an essential prerequisite for the nervous system to transmit an impulse efficiently by a saltatory conduction. In the peripheral nervous system (PNS), Schwann cells (SCs) engage in myelination. However, a detailed molecular mechanism underlying myelination still remains unclear. In this study, we hypothesized that the primary cilia of SCs are the regulators of Hedgehog (Hh) signaling-mediated myelination. To confirm our hypothesis, we used mouse dorsal root ganglion (DRG)/SC co-cultures, wherein the behavior of SCs could be analyzed by maintaining the interaction of SCs with DRG neurons. Under these conditions, SCs had primary cilia, and Hh signaling molecules accumulated on the primary cilia. When the SCs were stimulated by the addition of desert hedgehog or smoothened agonist, formation of myelin segments on the DRG axons was facilitated. On the contrary, upon administration of cyclopamine, an inhibitor of Hh signaling, myelin segments became comparable to those of controls. Of note, the ratio of SCs harboring primary cilium reached the highest point during the early phase of myelination. Furthermore, the strongest effects of Hh on myelination were encountered during the same stage. These results collectively indicate that Hh signaling regulates myelin formation through primary cilia in the PNS.     

Expression of inducible nitric oxide synthase in human umbilical vein endothelial cells during primary culture

The adaptive response of endothelial cells to stress may lead to the upregulation of nitric oxide (NO) production. Herein, we report inducible nitric oxide synthase (iNOS) induction in primary cultures of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC). The enzyme expression was earlier observed in 12-h cultures, reaching maximal levels after 3 days and decreasing when cells become confluent. The time course of NO production by HUVEC paralleled iNOS expression during the whole culture period, indicating that enzyme was functionally active. Conversely, iNOS induction could not be further detected in HUVEC subcultures passed once from cells presenting maximal levels of iNOS expression in the primary culture. Induction of iNOS in HUVEC was not related to lipopolysaccharide contamination, since the enzyme expression was not affected in the presence of polymyxin B added to primary cultures. Further analysis showed that aminoguanidine, a specific iNOS inhibitor, did not affect cell proliferation, suggesting that the NO produced by HUVEC may not be directly related to cell growth. Platelet endothelial cell adhesion molecule-1 expression was upregulated during cell confluence, in contrast to the decrease of iNOS expression and activity. The data suggest that iNOS expression may be a molecular mechanism mediating the adaptive response of endothelial cells to culture environment.     

Muscular dysgenesis: a model system for studying skeletal muscle development

Muscular dysgenesis, caused by an autosomal recessive lethal mutation (mdg) in mice, is characterized by an absence of contraction of skeletal muscle. A historical review of the investigation of this disorder is presented. The early studies of the morphological and physiological aspects of the disorder in vivo and in vitro presented evidence for dysfunction in the skeletal muscle excitation-contraction (E-C) system, and thus suggested that skeletal muscle was the primary target of dysfunction in dysgenesis. Subsequent evidence, including the phenomenon of rescue (restoration of contraction) of dysgenic muscle in culture by spinal cord cells, argued for involvement of the nervous system in the disorder. Experiments demonstrating that dysgenic muscle lacks the slow calcium current associated with E-C coupling, and the protein (the dihydropyridine receptor) also associated with such coupling, led to the discovery of the probable site of the mutation: the gene for the alpha 1 subunit of the dihydropyridine receptor. The neuronal involvement hypothesis was further countered by several lines of evidence, including the phenomenon of fusion of nonmyogenic normal cells with dysgenic myotubes in cocultures of normal cells and dysgenic muscle. The use of the mutant as a model for studying the development of normal skeletal muscle is discussed and future avenues of research are explored.     

Yeast as a model for studying human neurodegenerative disorders

Protein misfolding and aggregation are central events in many disorders including several neurodegenerative diseases. This suggests that alterations in normal protein homeostasis may contribute to pathogenesis, but the exact molecular mechanisms involved are still poorly understood. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae is one of the model systems of choice for studies in molecular medicine. Modeling human neurodegenerative diseases in this simple organism has already shown the incredible power of yeast to unravel the complex mechanisms and pathways underlying these pathologies. Indeed, this work has led to the identification of several potential therapeutic targets and drugs for many diseases, including the neurodegenerative diseases. Several features associated with these diseases, such as formation of protein aggregates, cellular toxicity mediated by misfolded proteins, oxidative stress and hallmarks of apoptosis have been faithfully recapitulated in yeast, enabling researchers to take advantage of this powerful model to rapidly perform genetic and compound screens with the aim of identifying novel candidate therapeutic targets and drugs. Here we review the work undertaken to model human brain disorders in yeast, and how these models provide insight into novel therapeutic approaches for these diseases.     

Yeast as a model system for studying endocytosis.

Endocytosis is the membrane trafficking process by which plasma membrane components and extracellular material are internalized into cytoplasmic vesicles and delivered to early and late endosomes, eventually either recycling back to the plasma membrane or arriving at the lysosome/vacuole. The budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae has proven to be an invaluable system for identifying proteins involved in endocytosis and elucidating the mechanisms underlying internalization and postinternalization events. Through genetic studies in yeast and biochemical studies in mammalian cells, it has become apparent that multiple cellular processes are linked to endocytosis, including actin cytoskeletal dynamics, ubiquitylation, lipid modification, and signal transduction. In this review, we will highlight the most exciting recent findings in the field of yeast endocytosis. Specifically, we will address the involvement of the actin cytoskeleton in internalization, the role of ubiquitylation as a regulator of multiple steps of endocytosis in yeast, and the sorting of endocytosed proteins into the recycling and vacuolar pathways.     

Muscular dysgenesis in mice: a model system for studying excitation-contraction coupling

Muscular dysgenesis (mdg) is a lethal autosomal, recessive mutation of mice. Skeletal muscle from dysgenic mice is paralyzed due to the failure of excitation-contraction (E-C) coupling. Considerable evidence indicates that this failure results from the absence of a specific gene product, the alpha 1 subunit of the skeletal muscle receptor for dihydropyridine calcium channel modifiers. This dihydropyridine receptor is hypothesized to function in E-C coupling of normal skeletal muscle as the voltage sensor that triggers calcium release from the sarcoplasmic reticulum and thereby causes contraction. The skeletal muscle dihydropyridine receptor is also postulated to function as the ion channel responsible for a slowly activating, dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium current (Islow). Dysgenic skeletal muscle lacks Islow but expresses, at low levels, a distinctly different dihydropyridine-sensitive calcium current (Idys). The channel protein underlying Idys is incapable of serving as a voltage sensor for E-C coupling. Studies using dysgenic skeletal muscle have provided significant insight into the role of dihydropyridine receptors in E-C coupling.     

Flagellar regeneration in Chlamydomonas: a model system for studying organelle assembly

How do the many different components of an organelle assemble into a functional structure at an appropriate place and time? Flagellar regeneration by the biflagellate green alga Chlamydomonas is one experimental system in which genetics, biochemistry and ultrastructural analysis are being combined to investigate the assembly of a microtubule-containing organelle. Recent advances in the molecular biology of this 'green yeast' have made possible several new approaches to the problem of flagellar assembly; insights from these new approaches are the focus of this review.     

Experimental murine amyloidosis: a model system for studying amyloid formation.

Myeloma-associated and casein-induced murine amyloidosis were used as models to study the role of lymphocytes and macrophages in amyloid formation. Amyloidosis occurred rarely and in small amounts in Balb/C mice with immunoglobulin (Ig)-producing myeloma tumours but large amounts could be induced by injections of casein. Fluorescent staining of both forms of amyloid deposits by means of anti-casein- and anti-myeloma-amyloid antibodies indicated that they either crossreacted or coexisted. Nor abnormality of Ig biosynthesis was detected in amyloidosis, suggesting that abnormal degradation was responsible for production of the Ig form of amyloid. Although spleen lymphocytes of casein-injected mice with amyloidosis demonstrated diminished cellular immunologic responses, this did not indicate generalized immunologic incompetence. The non-Ig form of amyloid in casein-injected mice was shown to be produced by macrophages, and a technique was developed for increasing the yield of amyloid-containing cells.     

Structure and motility of primary cilia in the follicular epithelium of the human thyroid

In order to clarify contradictory reports concerning ciliary structure and function, follicular epithelium from macroscopically normal portions of 37 surgical specimens of human thyroid were processed for video-microscopy and/or transmission electron microscopy. The cilia of living cells were immotile. In transverse sections the cilia revealed a 9 + 0 pattern at the base of the shaft, whereas towards the distal end the number of microtubular doublets diminished. Dynein arms, radial spokes and central microtubules were absent. The immotility and structure of these primary cilia implies that their function is not related to motility. The phylogenetic and ontogenetic development of the thyroid suggests that tumor cells of follicular origin displaying abnormal secondary cilia may represent a pathological variant of differentiation.     

Intact brain cells: a novel model system for studying opioid receptor binding

This paper presents the use of a novel tissue preparation to study opioid receptor binding in viable intact cells derived from whole brains of adult rats. Mechanically dissociated and sieved cells, which were not homogenized at any stage of the experimental protocol, and iso-osmotic physiological buffer were used in these experiments. This system was adapted in order to avoid mechanical and chemical disruption of cell membranes, cytoskeletal ultrastructure or receptor topography by homogenization or by the use of non-physiological buffers, and to mimic in vivo binding conditions as much as possible. Using [3H]naloxone as the radioligand, our studies showed saturable and stereospecific high-affinity binding of this opioid antagonist in intact cells, which in turn showed consistently high viability. [3H]Naloxone binding was also linear over a wide range of tissue concentrations. This technique provides a very promising model for future studies of the binding of opioids and of many other classes of drugs to brain tissue receptors in a more physiologically relevant system than those commonly used to date.     

Yeast as a model system for studying lipid homeostasis and function

Lipids are essential eukaryotic cellular constituents. Lipid metabolism has a strong impact on cell physiology, and despite good progress in this area, many important basic questions remain unanswered concerning the functional diversity of lipid species and on the mechanisms that cells employ to sense and adjust their lipid composition. Combining convenient experimental tractability, a large degree of conservation of metabolic pathways with other eukaryotes and the relative simplicity of its genome, proteome and lipidome, yeast represents the most advantageous model organism for studying lipid homeostasis and function. In this review we will focus on the importance of yeast as a model organism and some of the innovative advantages for the lipid research field.     

Oogenesis in Drosophila melanogaster: a model system for studying cell differentiation and development

Drosophila oogenesis is a complex developmental process involving the coordinated differentiation of germ line and somatic cells. Correct execution and timing of cell fate specification and patterning events is achieved during this process by the integration of different cell-cell signalling pathways, eventually leading to the generation of positional information inside the oocyte, that is instrumental for the establishment of embryonic polarity. The large body of data accumulated at both cellular and molecular levels in the last decade clearly demonstrated how Drosophila oogenesis is a genetically tractable system particularly suited for the investigation of key developmental biology questions. Our recent contribution to the field relies on the characterisation of three different mutants named tegamino (teg), hold hup (hup) and tulipano (tip), identifying novel gene functions required during oogenesis. Specifically, teg is implicated in the morphogenesis of the follicular epithelium surrounding the germ line cells in the egg chamber, hup is involved in the establishment of egg chamber polarity and tip in the regulation of the dynamic germ cell chromatin organisation.     

幽门螺杆菌感染新型原代人胃上皮细胞模型的建立

目的 培养三维(3D)人胃黏膜上皮类器官,转为二维(2D)原代胃黏膜细胞培养,并建成人2D原代胃上皮细胞的幽门螺杆菌感染模型。 方法 (1)从正常人胃上皮组织中分离胃腺,在含有多种生长调节和凋亡抑制等混合因子的培养基中,依附于基质胶而培养成3D类器官;(2)利用免疫荧光技术鉴定胃上皮类器官的相关分子标记;(3)研究正常原代胃上皮细胞被幽门螺杆菌感染后的形态学变化,利用免疫印迹技术鉴定幽门螺杆菌感染相关蛋白的表达水平。 结果 成功培养出可长期传代的人胃上皮3D类器官,具有典型的人胃黏膜上皮分子标记。而且3D类器官转为2D平面培养的原代胃上皮细胞,可作为幽门螺杆菌的体外原代细胞感染模型。 结论 3D胃上皮类器官,可作为2D原代胃上皮细胞的持久来源,为研究幽门螺杆菌感染人体胃上皮的分子机制带来个体化的新模型。     

Characterization of a system for studying human gait during slope walking

Sloped walking surfaces provide a unique environment for examining the biomechanics and neural control of locomotion. While sloped surfaces have been used in a variety of studies in recent years, the current literature provides little if any discussion of the integrity, i.e., validity, of the systems used to collect data. The goal of this study was to develop and characterize a testing system capable of evaluating the kinetics of human locomotion on sloped surfaces. A ramped walkway system with an embedded force plate was constructed and stabilized. Center of pressure and reaction force data from the force plate were evaluated at 6 ramp grades (0, 5, 15, 25, 35, and 39 %). Ground reaction force data at 0 % grade were effectively the same as data from the same force plate when mounted in the ground and were well within the range of intrasubject variability. Collectively, data from all tests demonstrate the fidelity of this ramp system and suggest it can be used to evaluate human locomotion over a range of slope intensities.     

ICF syndrome cells as a model system for studying X chromosome inactivation

Mutations in the DNMT3B DNA methyltransferase gene cause the ICF immunodeficiency syndrome. The targets of this DNA methyltransferase are CpG-rich heterochromatic regions, including pericentromeric satellites and the inactive X chromosome. The abnormal hypomethylation in ICF cells provides an important model system for determining the relationships between replication time, CpG island methylation, chromatin structure, and gene silencing in X chromosome inactivation.