81 research outputs found
Requirement for a Uroplakin 3a-like protein in the development of zebrafish pronephric tubule epithelial cell function, morphogenesis, and polarity
Uroplakin (UP)3a is critical for urinary tract development and function; however, its role in these processes is unknown. We examined the function of the UP3a-like protein Upk3l, which was expressed at the apical surfaces of the epithelial cells that line the pronephric tubules (PTs) of the zebrafish pronephros. Embryos treated with upk3l-targeted morpholinos showed decreased pronephros function, which was attributed to defects in PT epithelial cell morphogenesis and polarization including: loss of an apical brush border and associated phospho-ERM proteins, apical redistribution of the basolateral Na+/K+-ATPase, and altered or diminished expression of the apical polarity complex proteins Prkcz (atypical protein kinase C zeta) and Pard3 (Par3). Upk3l missing its C-terminal cytoplasmic domain or containing mutations in conserved tyrosine or proline residues did not rescue, or only partially rescued the effects of Upk3l depletion. Our studies indicate that Upk3l promotes epithelial polarization and morphogenesis, likely by forming or stimulating interactions with cytoplasmic signaling or polarity proteins, and that defects in this process may underlie the pathology observed in UP3a knockout mice or patients with renal abnormalities that result from altered UP3a expression. © 2012 Mitra et al
The prophenoloxidase system is activated during the tunic inflammatory reaction of Ciona intestinalis
Phenoloxidase (PO) activity was examined in the
tunic tissue of Ciona intestinalis following lipopolysaccharide(CinPO-3) containing the CinPO-2 peptide was identified
in the recent Ciona genome version. Presumably, LPS
stimulated the production and dimerization (120 kDa) of
CinPO-3 (66 kDa). Thus, the activated proPO system
includes several POs that are distinguishable by size and
that are contained and presumably released by tunic
inflammatory cells and hemocytes of the pharynx bars.
(LPS) intratunic injection. Tunic homogenate supernatant
(THS), assayed with the Dopa-MBTH reaction,
displayed Ca2+-independent PO activity that was raised by
LPS and further enhanced by proteases. Specific inhibitors
(tropolone, phenylthiourea, diethylthiocarbamate) supported
the specificity of the reaction. Assay with soybean
trypsin inhibitor showed that, in the tunic, PO activation
with trypsin was not significantly inhibited suggesting that
proteases diverse from serine proteases were involved. In
vivo experiments were carried out by injecting isosmotic
medium or LPS, and THS was assayed for its PO activity.
Analysis of variance of the time-course profiles showed that
LPS was more effective in activating proPO. To disclose
the PO response at the injured site, an assay with Dopa-
MBTH was performed in vitro. Quinones were mainly
contained in the tunic matrix enriched with inflammatory
cells around the injection site. Microscopic observations
and immunohistochemistry with anti-CinPO-2 antibodies
showed granulocytes and unilocular refractile granulocytes
containing PO, whereas few morula cells were stained. In
THS zymograms (SDS-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis),
PO activity linked to 90-kDa and 120-kDa bands was
observed as an effect of LPS injection, whereas the density
of 170-kDa PO was weak. A third presumptive PO enzym
Lhx1 Is Required for Specification of the Renal Progenitor Cell Field
In the vertebrate embryo, the kidney is derived from the intermediate mesoderm. The LIM-class homeobox transcription factor lhx1 is expressed early in the intermediate mesoderm and is one of the first genes to be expressed in the nephric mesenchyme. In this study, we investigated the role of Lhx1 in specification of the kidney field by either overexpressing or depleting lhx1 in Xenopus embryos or depleting lhx1 in an explant culture system. By overexpressing a constitutively-active form of Lhx1, we established its capacity to expand the kidney field during the specification stage of kidney organogenesis. In addition, the ability of Lhx1 to expand the kidney field diminishes as kidney organogenesis transitions to the morphogenesis stage. In a complimentary set of experiments, we determined that embryos depleted of lhx1, show an almost complete loss of the kidney field. Using an explant culture system to induce kidney tissue, we confirmed that expression of genes from both proximal and distal kidney structures is affected by the absence of lhx1. Taken together our results demonstrate an essential role for Lhx1 in driving specification of the entire kidney field from the intermediate mesoderm
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