Inflamed adult pharynx tissues and swimming larva of Ciona intestinalis share CiTNFα-producing cells

In situ hybridisation and immunohistochemistry analyses have shown that the Ciona intestinalis tumour necrosis factor alpha gene (CiTNFα), which has been previously cloned and sequenced, is expressed either during the inflammatory pharynx response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS) or during the swimming larval phase of development. Granulocytes with large granules and compartment/morula cells are CiTNFα-producing cells in both inflamed pharynx and larvae. Pharynx vessel endothelium also takes part in the inflammatory response. Haemocyte nodules in the vessel lumen or associated with the endothelium suggest the involvement of CiTNFα in recruiting lymphocyte-like cells and promoting the differentiation of inflammatory haemocytes. Specific antibodies against a CiTNFα peptide have identified a 43-kDa cell-bound form of the protein. Observations of pharynx histological sections (at 4 and 8 h post-LPS inoculation) from naive and medium-inoculated ascidians have confirmed the CiTNFα-positive tissue response. Larval histological sections and whole-mount preparations have revealed that CiTNFα is expressed by trunk mesenchyme, preoral lobe and tunic cells, indicating CiTNFα-expressing cell immigration events and an ontogenetic role.     

端粒酶催化亚基基因在小鼠 胚胎发育早期的转录活性

用 RT-PCR 引物分别扩增成年昆明 (KM) 小鼠睾丸、脾脏、肾脏、肝脏和胸腺组织的总 RNA 发现,端粒酶催化亚基基因 tert 在这些组织中都有转录,目标产物正确组装到 PMD 18-T 载体后测序,结果与已知 cDNA 序列一致 . PMSG/hCG 超数排卵方法获得 KM 小鼠成熟卵母细胞和 CZB 溶液体外培养的胚胎 (KM ♀× KM ♂ ) ,用酸性 Tyrode's 溶液消化透明带后,采用巢式 RT-PCR ,同时分析 tert 基因和持家基因 hprt 的转录发现,对于单个样品来说 , 全部卵母细胞 (15 h-post hCG , 10/10) 都存在 hprt 转录本,其中,只有 40% (4/10) 还同时存在 tert 转录本 . 原核形成初期 (20 h-post hCG , 6/6) 和原核晚期 (30 h post-hCG , 8/8) 的受精卵,以及发育至 2-C 早期的胚胎 (35 h-post hCG , 7/7) 都不转录 tert 基因,只有 hprt mRNA 存在; 2-C 晚期 (50 h-post hCG) 时,两个基因同时转录 (4/8) 和一个基因单独转录 (4/8) 的胚胎各占 50% ;从 4-C 阶段 (65 h-post hCG , 4/4) 开始,包括 8-C 阶段 (75 h-post hCG , 4/4) ,桑椹胚阶段 (93 h-post hCG , 4/4) ,直至囊胚阶段 (118 h-post hCG , 4/4) ,所有的胚胎都同时转录 tert 和 hprt 基因,而且转录水平明显升高 . 以 20 枚胚胎量为模板进行 RT-PCR 发现,原核早期,原核晚期的胚胎中仍然没有 tert 基因转录,只有 hprt mRNA ,但是,在 2-C 早期胚胎中同时检测到了 hprt 和 tert 两种 mRNA. 结果表明,持家基因 hprt 在成熟卵母细胞受精前后,以及胚胎早期发育过程中均存在转录本 . 40% 卵母细胞中存在的 tert mRNA 在受精后很快降解,检测不到;胚胎基因组在 2-C 早期开始转录 tert mRNA ,转录水平逐渐上升 . 结果暗示,小鼠胚胎的基因组 DNA 在 2-C 早期开始启动,功能基因 tert 也在此时开始转录,可能与胚胎发育初期的染色体保护有关 .     

Inducible galectins are expressed in the inflamed pharynx of the ascidian Ciona intestinalis

Although ascidians belong to a key group in chordate phylogenesis, amino acid sequences of Ciona intestinalis galectin-CRDs (CiLgals-a and -b) have been retained too divergent from vertebrate galectins. In the present paper, to contribute in disclosing Bi-CRD galectin evolution a novel attempt was carried out on CiLgals-a and -b CRDs phylogenetic analysis, and their involvement in ascidian inflammatory responses was shown. CiLgals resulted aligned with Bi-CRD galectins from vertebrates (Xenopus tropicalis, Gallus gallus, Mus musculus, Homo sapiens), cephalochordates (Branchiostoma floridae), echinoderms (Strongylocentrotus purpuratus) and a mono-CRD galectin from the ascidian Clavelina picta. The CiLgals-a N-terminal and C-terminal CRDs contain the signature sequence involved in carbohydrate binding, whereas the CiLgals-b C-CRD presents only three out of seven key aminoacids and it could not be suitable as sugar binding motif. Sequence similarity between clusters suggests an evolutionary model based on CRD domain gene duplication and sequence diversification. In particular CiLgals-b N-CRD and C-CRD were similar to each other and both grouped with the ascidian C. picta mono-CRD. Homology modeling process shows a CiLgals molecular structure superimposed to chicken and mouse galectins. The CiLgals-a and CiLgals-b genes were upregulated by LPS inoculation suggesting that they are inducible and expressed in the inflamed pharynx as revealed by real-time PCR analysis. Finally, in situ hybridization and immunohistochemical assays showed their localization in the inflamed tissues, while immunoblotting analysis indicated that CiLgals can form oligomers.