Liquid Crystal in Lung Development and Chicken Embryogenesis

Xu, Xuehong; Xu, Mengmeng; Jones, Odell; Chen, Xunzhang; Li, Yanfei; Pan, Yuexing; Davis, Harry; Xu, Yi; Bryant, Joseph; Zheng, Shangen; Anthony, Donald D.

doi:10.1080/15421406.2011.572042

Cited by 4 publications

(14 citation statements)

References 16 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In this section, we will focus on research approaches used for studying liquid-crystals in biological embryogenesis and human pathogenesis. The preeminent combination of all procedures could perform excellent inspection on the liquid crystal [Xu XH et al 2011a].…”

Section: Methodology For Liquid-crystal Function In Medical Biology Amentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The earliest liquid crystal droplets appear on the inner embryonic disc during the second day of development [He H et al 1978]. Regardless of their distribution, however, the liquid crystal droplets eventually vanish within three to four weeks into the postnatal period, also depending on tissue type maturation [X XH et al 2009[X XH et al , 2011a]. …”

Section: Comparative Summary Of Liquid-crystals In Embryonic Tissue Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The hepatic birefringent particles are mainly composed of cholesteryl oleate, cholesterol, lecithin and an unidentified component [Xu XH et al 1992, 1995a, 2011a. These liquid crystal droplets are situated in hepatocytes of the hepatic cord region.…”

Section: General Characteristics Of Embryonic Liquid-crystalmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Under polarization microscope, liquid crystal exhibit Maltese-crosses optical textures, while crystals produced more angular (needle-like, rhombus, or dot-shape) diffraction patterns The two states also reacted differently to pressure experiments, with the liquid-crystals dividing into smaller Maltese-cross droplets, while crystals fractured uner duress , 2011a]. …”

Section: Decrease-rate Dependent Thermal Phase Transitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Subsequent studies have identified liquid-crystalline structures to be omnipresent in the liver during avian development [Xu XH et al 1995a, 1995b. Recent studies have revealed that liquid-crystals play a critical role in the preservation of calcium and other trace elements required for embryo development , 2010, 2011a]. …”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 4 more Smart Citations

Liquid-Crystal in Embryogenesis and Pathogenesis of Human Diseases

Xu¹,

Xu²

2012

Embryogenesis

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Section: Methodology For Liquid-crystal Function In Medical Biology Amentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Comparative Summary Of Liquid-crystals In Embryonic Tissue Dmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: General Characteristics Of Embryonic Liquid-crystalmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Decrease-rate Dependent Thermal Phase Transitionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Liquid-Crystal in Embryogenesis and Pathogenesis of Human Diseases

Xu¹,

Xu²

2012

Embryogenesis

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Liver-specific NG37 overexpression leads to diet-dependent fatty liver disease accompanied by cardiac dysfunction

Zhou

Wang

et al. 2016

Genes Nutr

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundEnvironmental factors are well-known causes of diseases. However, aside from a handful of risk indicators, genes’ encoding susceptibility to chronic illnesses and their associated environmental triggers are largely unknown. In this era of increasingly rich diets, such genetic predispositions would be immensely helpful from a public health perspective. The novel transgenic mouse model with liver-specific NG37 overexpression characterized in this article identifies the diet-dependent function of NG37 in the pathogenesis of fatty liver disease and cardiac arrhythmia.ResultsThe liver-specific NG37 overexpression transgenic mouse model described here was generated using the Alb-SV40 polyA expression plasmid backbone. NG37 cDNA under control of the albumin promoter for liver-specific expression was fused with a 5′ terminal M2 FLAG sequence and a SV40 early region transcription terminator/polyadenylation site attached at the 3′-UTR. These NG37 transgenic mice developed normally and were physiologically normal on a standard diet. However, in comparison to non-transgenic (nTG) litter mates, these mice develop dramatic phenotypes within 12–18 days of starting a high-fat diet: (i) increased body weight (28.5 ± 12.3 g), (ii) increased liver weight (87.4 ± 35.7 mg), (iii) increased heart weight (140 ± 38.4 mg), and (iv) cardiac arrhythmia. The enlarged livers of high-fat diet NG37 transgenic mice was histologically similar to human fatty liver disease and contained Maltese cross birefringent active depositions in hepatocytes that are indicative of fatty liver disease. We also confirmed via X-ray diffraction the steatotic vesicles in the diseased hepatocytes of our high-fat diet NG37 mice was composed of cholesteryl derivatives also found in human fatty liver disease. In addition to cardiac enlargement, NG37 transgenic mice on high-fat diet also exhibited highly irregular bradycardia not present in either high-fat diet nTG littermates or normal-diet transgenic litter mates.ConclusionsThe dramatic high-fat diet-dependent symptoms (increased body weight, cardiac enlargement, fatty liver, and cardiac arrhythmias) characterized in our liver-specific NG37 overexpression mouse model identifies NG37 as a gene encoding latent lipid metabolism pathology induced only in the presence of an environmental factor relevant to human health: high-fat diet.

show abstract

Characterization of tubular liquid crystal structure in embryonic stem cell derived embryoid bodies

Jones

Wang

et al. 2017

Cell Biosci

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

BackgroundMassive liquid crystal droplets have been found during embryonic development in more than twenty different tissues and organs, including the liver, brain and kidney. Liquid crystal deposits have also been identified in multiple human pathologies, including vascular disease, liver dysfunction, age-related macular degeneration, and other chronic illnesses. Despite the involvement of liquid crystals in such a large number of human processes, this phenomenon is poorly understood and there are no in vitro systems to further examine the function of liquid crystals in biology.ResultsWe report the presence of tubular birefringent structures in embryoid bodies (EBs) differentiated in culture. These birefringent tubular structures initiate at the EB surface and penetrated the cortex at a variety of depths. Under crossed polarized light, these tubules are seen as a collection of birefringent Maltese crosses and tubules with birefringent walls and a non-birefringent lumen. The fluidity of these birefringent structures under pressure application led to elongation and widening, which was partially recoverable with pressure release. These birefringent structures also displayed heat triggered phase transition from liquid crystal to isotropic status that is partially recoverable with return to ambient temperature. These pressure and temperature triggered changes confirm the birefringent structures as liquid crystals. The first report of liquid crystal so early in development.ConclusionThe structure of the liquid crystal tubule network we observed distributed throughout the differentiated embryoid bodies may function as a transportation network for nutrients and metabolic waste during EB growth, and act as a precursor to the vascular system. This observation not only reveals the involvement of liquid crystals earlier than previously known, but also provides a method for studying liquid crystals in vitro.Electronic supplementary materialThe online version of this article (doi:10.1186/s13578-016-0130-6) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

show abstract

Liquid Crystal in Lung Development and Chicken Embryogenesis

Cited by 4 publications

References 16 publications

Liquid-Crystal in Embryogenesis and Pathogenesis of Human Diseases

Liquid-Crystal in Embryogenesis and Pathogenesis of Human Diseases

Liver-specific NG37 overexpression leads to diet-dependent fatty liver disease accompanied by cardiac dysfunction

Characterization of tubular liquid crystal structure in embryonic stem cell derived embryoid bodies

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About