The spatiotemporal expression pattern of the bone morphogenetic protein family in rat ovary cell types during the estrous cycle.

In the mammalian ovary, great interest in the expression and function of the bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) family has been recently generated from evidence of their critical role in determining folliculogenesis and female fertility. Despite extensive work, there is a need to understand the cellular sites of expression of these important regulatory molecules, and how their gene expression changes within the basic ovary cell types through the cycle. Here we have performed a detailed in situ hybridization analysis of the spatial and temporal expression patterns of the BMP ligands (BMP-2, -3, -3b, -4, -6, -7, -15), receptors (BMPR-IA, -IB, -II), and BMP antagonist, follistatin, in rat ovaries over the normal estrous cycle. We have found that: i) all of the mRNAs are expressed in a cell-specific manner in the major classes of ovary cell types (oocyte, granulosa, theca interstitial, theca externa, corpora lutea, secondary interstitial, vascular and ovary surface epithelium); and ii) most undergo dynamic changes during follicular and corpora luteal morphogenesis and histogenesis. The general principle to emerge from these studies is that the developmental programs of folliculogenesis (recruitment, selection, atresia), ovulation, and luteogenesis (luteinization, luteolysis) are accompanied by rather dramatic spatial and temporal changes in the expression patterns of these BMP genes. These results lead us to hypothesize previously unanticipated roles for the BMP family in determining fundamental developmental events that ensure the proper timing and developmental events required for the generation of the estrous cycle

The Survey of the Frequency of Single and Triplicated α-Globin Gene Loci and Their Imbalance in Japanese

A survey of an interchromosomally unequal but homologous crossover in human α-globin gene cluster was performed with the DNA of the healthy Japanese adults. Of 200 haplotypes, 4 were found to be unusual α-globin gene clusters ; two were the triplicated[-α2-α2-α1-] generated by leftward crossover and the other two were the single [-α2α1(orα1)] created by rightward crossover. However, these identified haplotypes of single and triplicated a gene were not correspond in each to a reciprocal counterpart, produced by the same crossing over mechanism. Individuals with these unusual α-globin gene haplotypes showed neither clinical nor hematologic abnormalities

The Survey of Abnormal Hemoglobins in the Kobe District: I. Hb Ube-2 (α68 Asn→Asp) and Hb Syracuse (β143 His→Pro) with High Oxygen Affinity

In a hemoglobin survey conducted in Kobe for the past three years, ten instances of abnormal hemoglobin were discovered. This paper describes two instances of Hb Ube-2 (α68 Asn→Asp) and one instance of Hb Syracuse (β143 His→Pro) with high oxygen affinity detected in this survey

Golgi apparatus casein kinase phosphorylates bioactive Ser-6 of bone morphogenetic protein 15 and growth and differentiation factor 9

AbstractBone morphogenetic protein-15 (BMP-15) and growth and differentiation factor-9 (GDF-9) are oocyte-secreted factors that play essential roles in human folliculogenesis and ovulation. Their bioactivity is tightly regulated through phosphorylation, likely to occur within the Golgi apparatus of the secretory pathway. Here we show that Golgi apparatus casein kinase (G-CK) catalyzes the phosphorylation of rhBMP-15 and rhGDF-9. rhBMP-15, in particular, is an excellent substrate for G-CK. In each protein a single residue is phosphorylated by G-CK, corresponding to the serine residue at the sixth position of the mature region of both rhBMP-15 and rhGDF-9, whose phosphorylation is required for biological activity