The cell cycle and development: redundant roles of cell cycle regulators

The existence of families of cell cycle regulators reflects the need by a developing organism to precisely control proliferation of its cells and also suggests that family members may play redundant roles. Recent advances have shown redundancy to be a theme in development.     

The CNTF/LIF signaling pathway regulates developmental programmed cell death and differentiation of rod precursor cells in the mouse retina in vivo

Natural cell death is critical for normal development of the nervous system, but the extracellular regulators of developmental cell death remain poorly characterized. Here, we studied the role of the CNTF/LIF signaling pathway during mouse retinal development in vivo. We show that exposure to CNTF during neonatal retinal development in vivo retards rhodopsin expression and results in an important and specific deficit in photoreceptor cells. Detailed analysis revealed that exposure to CNTF during retinal development causes a sharp increase in cell death of postmitotic rod precursor cells. Importantly, we show that blocking the CNTF/LIF signaling pathway during mouse retinal development in vivo results in a significant reduction of naturally occurring cell death. Using retroviral lineage analysis, we demonstrate that exposure to CNTF causes a specific reduction of clones containing only rods without affecting other clone types, whereas blocking the CNTF/LIF receptor complex causes a specific increase of clones containing only rods. In addition, we show that stimulation of the CNTF/LIF pathway positively regulates the expression of the neuronal and endothelial nitric oxide synthase (NOS) genes, and blocking nitric oxide production by pre-treatment with a NOS inhibitor abolishes CNTF-induced cell death. Taken together, these results indicate that the CNTF/LIF signaling pathway acts via regulation of nitric oxide production to modulate developmental programmed cell death of postmitotic rod precursor cells.     

miR-29a suppresses growth and invasion of gastric cancer cells in vitro by targeting VEGF-A

Increasing data shows miR-29a is a key regulator of oncogenic processes. It is significantly down-regulated in some kind of human tumors and possibly functionally linked to cellular proliferation, survival and migration. However, the mechanism remains unclear. In this study, we report miR-29a is significantly under-expressed in gastric cancer compared to the healthy donor. The microvessel density is negatively related to miR-29a expression in gastric cancer tissues. The ectopic expression of miR-29a significantly inhibits proliferation and invasion of gastric cancer cells. Furthermore, western blot combined with the luciferase reporter assays demonstrate that vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF-A) is direct target of miR-29a. This is the first time miR-29a was found to suppress the tumor microvessel density in gastric cancer by targeting VEGF-A. Taken together, these results suggest that miR-29a is a tumor suppressor in gastric cancer. Restoration of miR-29a in gastric cancer may be a promising therapeutic approach. [BMB Reports 2014; 47(1):39-44]     

The multifaceted roles of FLOWERING LOCUS T in plant development

One of the key developmental processes in flowering plants is the differentiation of the shoot apical meristem into a floral meristem. This transition is regulated through the integration of environmental and endogenous stimuli, involving a complex, hierarchical signalling network. In arabidopsis, the FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) protein, a mobile signal recognized as a major component of florigen, has a central position in mediating the onset of flowering. FT-like genes seem to be involved in regulating the floral transition in all angiosperms examined to date. Evidence from molecular evolution studies suggests that the emergence of FT-like genes coincided with the evolution of the flowering plants. Hence, the role of FT in floral promotion is conserved, but appears to be restricted to the angiosperms. Besides flowering, FT-like proteins have also been identified as major regulatory factors in a wide range of developmental processes including fruit set, vegetative growth, stomatal control and tuberization. These multifaceted roles of FT-like proteins have resulted from extensive gene duplication events, which occurred independently in nearly all modern angiosperm lineages, followed by sub- or neo-functionalization. This review assesses the plethora of roles that FT-like genes have acquired during evolution and their implications in plant diversity, adaptation and domestication.     

Regulation of microRNA-145 by growth arrest and differentiation

MicroRNA145 (miR145), a tumor suppressor miR, has been reported to inhibit growth of human cancer cells, to induce differentiation and to cause apoptosis, all conditions that result in growth arrest. In order to clarify the functional effects of miR145, we have investigated its expression in diverse conditions and different cell lines. Our results show that miR145 levels definitely increase in differentiating cells and also in growth-arrested cells, even in the absence of differentiation. Increased expression during differentiation sometimes occurs as a late event, suggesting that miR145 could be required either early or late during the differentiation process.     

Role of interferons in the regulation of cell proliferation,differentiation, and development

There now appears to be evidence to support the view that the type I IFNs are naturally produced negative regulators of growth that also modify cell differentiation. Consistent with this, it appears that the ability to produce and respond to IFN is suppressed in early embryonic development when cell proliferation and differentiation are essential. In the later stages of fetal development, IFN production is de-repressed, and cells show increased sensitivity to IFN, which may be important in regulating cell proliferation and/or differentiation processes or the interaction between fetal and maternal tissues. Interestingly, the IFN system can also be suppressed in disease states such as the development of tumours or in the establishment of a (chronic) viral infection. Therefore, understanding the developmental regulation of the IFN system may be important to understanding and controlling the IFN system in disease. More extensive studies of the developmental stage and tissue-specific expression of type I IFNs and their receptors are necessary, as well as more direct in vivo experiments to further elucidate the role of the IFN system in reproduction and development. © 1994 Wiley-Liss, Inc.     

Cortical differentiation and neurocognitive development: The parcellation conjecture

This paper reviews evidence consistent with the Parcellation Conjecture. Briefly, this conjecture states that in postnatal development cortical parcellation processes result in previously combined information processing pathways or structures becoming segregated into relatively isolated modules. Evidence consistent with the parcellation conjecture from several aspects of behavioral development are reviewed, including the development of binocular vision, cross-modal integration, and interhemispheric transfer. Predictions are made in other domains where existing evidence is unclear such as motion and color sensitivity, and somatosensory perception. Finally, we speculatively extend the notion of parcellation to more cognitive domains such as the development of priming and interference effects.     

Trypanosoma brucei: Reduction of GPI-phospholipase C protein during differentiation is dependent on replication of newly transformed cells

The protozoan parasite Trypanosoma brucei lives in the bloodstream of vertebrates or in a tsetse fly. Expression of a GPI-phospholipase C polypeptide (GPI-PLCp) in the parasite is restricted to the bloodstream form. Events controlling the amount of GPI-PLCp expressed during differentiation are not completely understood. Our metabolic “pulse-chase” analysis reveals that GPI-PLCp is stable in bloodstream form. However, during differentiation of bloodstream to insect stage (procyclic) T. brucei, translation GPI-PLC mRNA ceases within 8 h of initiating transformation. GPI-PLCp is not lost precipitously from newly transformed procyclic trypanosomes. Nascent procyclics contain 400-fold more GPI-PLCp than established insect stage T. brucei. Reduction of GPI-PLCp in early-stage procyclics is linked to parasite replication. Sixteen cell divisions are required to reduce the amount of GPI-PLCp in newly differentiated procyclics to levels present in the established procyclic. GPI-PLCp is retained in strains of T. brucei that fail to replicate after differentiation of the bloodstream to the procyclic form. Thus, at least two factors control levels of GPI-PLCp during differentiation of bloodstream T. brucei; (i) repression of GPI-PLC mRNA translation, and (ii) sustained replication of newly transformed procyclic T. brucei. These studies illustrate the importance of repeated cell divisions in controlling the steady-state amount of GPI-PLCp during differentiation of the African trypanosome.     

Intestinal growth and differentiation in zebrafish

Intestinal development in amniotes is driven by interactions between progenitor cells derived from the three primary germ layers. Genetic analyses and gene targeting experiments in zebrafish offer a novel approach to dissect such interactions at a molecular level. Here we show that intestinal anatomy and architecture in zebrafish closely resembles the anatomy and architecture of the mammalian small intestine. The zebrafish intestine is regionalized and the various segments can be identified by epithelial markers whose expression is already segregated at the onset of intestinal differentiation. Differentiation of cells derived from the three primary germ layers begins more or less contemporaneously, and is preceded by a stage in which there is rapid cell proliferation and maturation of epithelial cell polarization. Analysis of zebrafish mutants with altered epithelial survival reveals that seemingly related single gene defects have different effects on epithelial differentiation and smooth muscle and enteric nervous system development.     

MicroRNAs与胚胎干细胞研究

MicroRNAs(miRNAs)是一种大小约20～25个碱基的非编码小分子RNA,一般通过特异性抑制靶蛋白翻译或降解靶基因mRNA发挥负调控基因表达的作用.胚胎干细胞(embryonic stem cells,ES细胞)是从植入前早期胚胎内细胞团或原始生殖细胞中分离得到并能在体外长期培养的高度未分化的多能细胞系,在揭示胚胎早期发育机理、药物筛选、临床再生医学等领域具有广泛的应用前景.最近研究发现miRNAs在ES细胞自我更新和分化过程中均发挥着重要的调控作用,但具体调控机制尚未完全阐明.进一步深入研究miRNAs在ES细胞中的作用,全面了解ES细胞自我更新和定向分化的机制是实现ES细胞广阔临床应用前景的基础.     

The diverse roles of RNA polymerase II C-terminal domain phosphatase SCP1

RNA polymerase II carboxyl-terminal domain (pol II CTD) phosphatases are a newly emerging family of phosphatases that are members of DXDX (T/V). The subfamily includes Small CTD phosphatases, like SCP1, SCP2, SCP3, TIMM50, HSPC129 and UBLCP. Extensive study of SCP1 has elicited the diversified roles of the small C terminal domain phosphatase. The SCP1 plays a vital role in various biological activities, like neuronal gene silencing and preferential Ser5 dephosphorylation, acts as a cardiac hypertrophy inducer with the help of its intronic miRNAs, and has shown a key role in cell cycle regulation. This short review offers an explanation of the mechanism of action of small CTD phosphatases, in different biological activities and metabolic processes. [BMB Reports 2014; 47(4): 192-196]