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Roles of TGFβ and FGF signals during growth and differentiation of mouse lens epithelial cell in vitro.
Transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) and fibroblast growth factor (FGF) signaling pathways play important roles in the proliferation and differentiation of lens epithelial cells (LECs) during development. Low dosage bFGF promotes cell proliferation while high dosage induces differentiation. TGFβ signaling regulates LEC proliferation and differentiation as well, but also promotes epithelial-mesenchymal transitions that lead to cataracts. Thus far, it has been difficult to recapitulate the features of germinative LECs in vitro. Here, we have established a LEC culture protocol that uses SB431542 (SB) compound to inhibit TGFβ/Smad activation, and found that SB treatment promoted mouse LEC proliferation, maintained LECs' morphology and distinct markers including N-cadherin, c-Maf, Prox1, and αA-, αB-, and β-crystallins. In contrast, low-dosage bFGF was unable to sustain those markers and, combined with SB, altered LECs' morphology and β-crystallin expression. We further found that Matrigel substrate coatings greatly increased cell proliferation and uniquely affected β-crystallin expression. Cultured LECs retained the ability to differentiate into γ-crystallin-positive lentoids by high-dosage bFGF treatment. Thus, a suppression of TGFβ/Smad signaling in vitro is critical to maintaining characteristic features of mouse LECs, especially expression of the key transcription factors c-Maf and Prox1
Cascading failures in coupled networks with both inner-dependency and inter-dependency links
We study the percolation in coupled networks with both inner-dependency and
inter-dependency links, where the inner- and inter-dependency links represent
the dependencies between nodes in the same or different networks, respectively.
We find that when most of dependency links are inner- or inter-ones, the
coupled networks system is fragile and makes a discontinuous percolation
transition. However, when the numbers of two types of dependency links are
close to each other, the system is robust and makes a continuous percolation
transition. This indicates that the high density of dependency links could not
always lead to a discontinuous percolation transition as the previous studies.
More interestingly, although the robustness of the system can be optimized by
adjusting the ratio of the two types of dependency links, there exists a
critical average degree of the networks for coupled random networks, below
which the crossover of the two types of percolation transitions disappears, and
the system will always demonstrate a discontinuous percolation transition. We
also develop an approach to analyze this model, which is agreement with the
simulation results well.Comment: 9 pages, 4 figure
Parameter-tuning Networks: Experiments and Active Walk Model
The tuning process of a large apparatus of many components could be
represented and quantified by constructing parameter-tuning networks. The
experimental tuning of the ion source of the neutral beam injector of HT-7
Tokamak is presented as an example. Stretched-exponential cumulative degree
distributions are found in the parameter-tuning networks. An active walk model
with eight walkers is constructed. Each active walker is a particle moving with
friction in an energy landscape; the landscape is modified by the collective
action of all the walkers. Numerical simulations show that the parameter-tuning
networks generated by the model also give stretched exponential functions, in
good agreement with experiments. Our methods provide a new way and a new
insight to understand the action of humans in the parameter-tuning of
experimental processes, is helpful for experimental research and other
optimization problems.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure
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