Highlights d Brain organoids preserve gene expression networks despite elevated metabolic stress d Chimpanzee organoids enable studies of the evolution of human brain development d Primary and organoid samples reveal 261 human-specific gene expression changes d Human radial glia exhibit increased mTOR activation compared to non-human primates
There is accumulating evidence that Wnt/-catenin signaling is involved in the regulation of liver development and physiology. The presence of genetic alterations resulting in constitutive -catenin stabilization in human and murine liver tumors also implicates this pathway in hepatocyte proliferation. In the present study, we generated hepatocyte-specific -catenin knockout mice to explore the role of -catenin in liver function. Conditional knockout mice were born at the expected Mendelian ratio and developed normally to adulthood, indicating -catenin is dispensable for essential liver function under normal breeding conditions. However, the liver mass of knockout mice was 20% less than those of mice in the control groups. Expression analysis revealed loss of genes required for glutamine synthesis in knockout mice. Loss of the liver glutamine synthesis pathway did not affect the blood ammonia level in mice fed a standard diet, yet, knockout mice showed significantly elevated blood ammonia levels with high-protein dietary feeding. Furthermore, the expression of two cytochrome P450 enzymes, CYP1A2 and CYP2E1, was almost completely abolished in livers from hepatocyte-specific -catenin knockout mice. Consequently, these mice were resistant to acetaminophen challenge, confirming the requirement of these cytochrome P450 enzymes for metabolism of xenobiotic substances.  -Catenin is an adapter protein that fulfills two distinct roles in cells. As a part of an adherens junction complex, it interacts with transmembrane proteins of the cadherin family to promote cell-cell adhesion. In addition, -catenin is an integral part of the canonical Wnt signaling pathway known to regulate cell proliferation, differentiation, and stem cell maintenance in a wide variety of tissues. 1-3 Wnt ligands are secreted proteins that bind to cognate frizzled receptors expressed in the cell membrane of Wnt-responsive cells. In the absence of Wnt signals, cytoplasmic -catenin is phosphorylated by glycogen synthase kinase 3, a modification that triggers rapid proteosomal degradation of -catenin. Upon stimulation with Wnt ligands, cytoplasmic -catenin is stabilized and translocates to the nucleus, where it forms active transcription complexes with members of the TCF/LEF1 transcription factor family.There is accumulating evidence that indicates a role for Wnt/-catenin signaling in hepatocyte proliferation. Micsenyi et al. reported nuclear/cytoplasmic localization of -catenin in hepatocytes during early developmental stages, which gradually decrease with progression of organ development. During liver development, the level of nuclear/cytoplasmic -catenin expression correlates well with the proliferative activity of hepatocytes. 4 Suppression of -catenin by antisense oligonucleotides in ex vivo liver cultures results in decreased cell proliferation and increased apoptosis of hepatocytes. 5 Conversely, transgenic expression of N-terminally truncated -catenin results in increased hepatocyte proliferation and hepatomegaly, 6 a finding that ...
Tenascin-X (TN-X) is the newest member of the tenascin family of extracellular matrix proteins and it is highly expressed in muscular tissues during development. To gain insight into the possible functions of TN-X during development, we evaluated its expression in the rat embryo. Using an 800 bp cDNA encoding the fibrinogen-like domain of TN-X, we show that TN-X expression begins in migrating cells of the epicardium in the El2 heart. The epicardium provides progenitors of fibrous and vascular tissue to the developing heart. After the epicardium is complete, TN-X is expressed in the sub-epicardial space in association with developing blood vessels, and later by non-myocytes dispersed through the myocardial wall. A similar pattern of TN-X expression, first in connective tissue surrounding muscle, and then by a subset of cells within muscle, was seen in para-axial, body wall, craniofacial, and appendicular muscle. This pattern suggests a role in connective tissue cell migration and late muscle morphogenesis. TN-X is also highly expressed in the interdigital space at El5 and surrounding developing tendons, suggesting an additional role in cell fate determination. Although the pattern of TN-X expression is distinct from that of tenascin C, they are frequently expressed in close proximity. Indirect genetic evidence in humans suggests an essential function for TN-X, and the pattern of TN-X expression in heart, skeletal muscle, and limb is consistent with this hypothesis.
Direct comparisons of human and non-human primate brain tissue have the potential to reveal molecular pathways underlying remarkable specializations of the human brain. However, chimpanzee tissue is largely inaccessible during neocortical neurogenesis when differences in brain size first appear. To identify human-specific features of cortical development, we leveraged recent innovations that permit generating pluripotent stem cell-derived cerebral organoids from chimpanzee. First, we systematically evaluated the fidelity of organoid models to primary human and macaque cortex, finding organoid models preserve gene regulatory networks related to cell types and developmental processes but exhibit increased metabolic stress. Second, we identified 261 genes differentially expressed in human compared to chimpanzee organoids and macaque cortex. Many of these genes overlap with human-specific segmental duplications and a subset suggest increased PI3K/AKT/mTOR activation in human outer radial glia. Together, our findings establish a platform for systematic analysis of molecular changes contributing to human brain development and evolution.
Mild hypothermia of 34 degrees C is sufficient to reduce I/R injury by inhibiting the inflammatory response. Further spontaneous cooling to 31 degrees C did not demonstrate any additional protective effect.
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