Maternal Huluwa dictates the embryonic body axis through β-catenin in vertebrates

Science ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 362 (6417) ◽  
pp. eaat1045 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lu Yan ◽  
Jing Chen ◽  
Xuechen Zhu ◽  
Jiawei Sun ◽  
Xiaotong Wu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Shape Change ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Axis ◽  
Receptor Signaling ◽  
Dorsal Region ◽  
Cell Movements ◽  
Secondary Axis ◽  
The Future ◽  
Vertebrate Embryos

The vertebrate body is formed by cell movements and shape change during embryogenesis. It remains undetermined which maternal signals govern the formation of the dorsal organizer and the body axis. We found that maternal depletion of huluwa, a previously unnamed gene, causes loss of the dorsal organizer, the head, and the body axis in zebrafish and Xenopus embryos. Huluwa protein is found on the plasma membrane of blastomeres in the future dorsal region in early zebrafish blastulas. Huluwa has strong dorsalizing and secondary axis–inducing activities, which require β-catenin but can function independent of Wnt ligand/receptor signaling. Mechanistically, Huluwa binds to and promotes the tankyrase-mediated degradation of Axin. Therefore, maternal Huluwa is an essential determinant of the dorsal organizer and body axis in vertebrate embryos.

scholarly journals Neuromesodermal Progenitors: A Basis for Robust Axial Patterning in Development and Evolution

2021 ◽  
Vol 8 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ramkumar Sambasivan ◽  
Benjamin Steventon
Keyword(s):  
Cell Fate ◽  
Regulatory Networks ◽  
Shape Change ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Axis ◽  
Paraxial Mesoderm ◽  
Posterior Aspect ◽  
Relative Growth ◽  
Relative Growth Rates ◽  
Multiple Regions

During early development the vertebrate embryo elongates through a combination of tissue shape change, growth and progenitor cell expansion across multiple regions of the body axis. How these events are coordinated across the length of the embryo to generate a well-proportioned body axis is unknown. Understanding the multi-tissue interplay of morphogenesis, growth and cell fate specification is essential for us to gain a complete understanding how diverse body plans have evolved in a robust manner. Within the posterior region of the embryo, a population of bipotent neuromesodermal progenitors generate both spinal cord and paraxial mesoderm derivatives during the elongation of the vertebrate body. Here we summarize recent data comparing neuromesodermal lineage and their underlying gene-regulatory networks between species and through development. We find that the common characteristic underlying this population is a competence to generate posterior neural and paraxial mesoderm cells, with a conserved Wnt/FGF and Sox2/T/Tbx6 regulatory network. We propose the hypothesis that by maintaining a population of multi-germ layer competent progenitors at the posterior aspect of the embryo, a flexible pool of progenitors is maintained whose contribution to the elongating body axis varies as a consequence of the relative growth rates occurring within anterior and posterior regions of the body axis. We discuss how this capacity for variation in the proportions and rates of NM specification might have been important allowing for alterations in the timing of embryo growth during evolution.

An Ultrastructural Study of Pericytes

1968 ◽  
Vol 26 ◽  
pp. 66-67
Author(s):  
T. M. Murad ◽  
E. von Haam
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Endothelial Cell ◽  
Basement Membrane ◽  
Blood Vessel ◽  
Vascular Endothelial Cells ◽  
Myoepithelial Cells ◽  
Capillary Blood ◽  
The Body ◽  
Capillary Blood Vessel ◽  
Outer Plasma Membrane

Pericytes are vascular satellites present around capillary blood vessels and small venules. They have been observed in almost every tissue of the body and are thought to be related to vascular smooth muscle cells. Morphologically pericytes have great similarity to vascular endothelial cells and also slightly resemble myoepithelial cells.The present study describes the ultrastructural morphology of pericytes in normal breast tissue and in benign tumor of the breast. The study showed that pericytes are ovoid or elongated cells separated from the endothelial cell of the capillary blood vessel by the basement membrane of endothelial cell. The nuclei of pericytes are often very distinctive. Although some are round, oval, or elongated, others show marked irregularity and infolding of the nuclear membrane. The cytoplasm shows mono-or bipolar extension in which the cytoplasmic organelles are located (Fig. 1). These cytoplasmic extensions embrace the capillary blood vessel incompletely. The plasma membrane exhibits multiple areas of focal condensation called hemidesmosomes (Fig. 2, arrow). A variable number of pinocytotic vesicles are frequently seen lining the outer plasma membrane. Normally pericytes are surrounded by a basement membrane which is found more consistently on the outer plasma membrane separating the pericytes from the stromal connective tissue.

Revaluations through Dance: Friedrich Nietzsche's Thought in Isadora Duncan's Speech The Dance of the Future

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (2) ◽  
pp. 206-219
Author(s):  
Meindert E. Peters
Keyword(s):  
Twentieth Century ◽  
The Body ◽  
Eternal Recurrence ◽  
Early Twentieth Century ◽  
Starting Point ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Mind

Friedrich Nietzsche's influence on Isadora Duncan's work, in particular his idea of the Dionysian, has been widely discussed, especially in regard to her later work. What has been left underdeveloped in critical examinations of her work, however, is his influence on her earlier choreographic work, which she defended in a famous speech held in 1903 called The Dance of the Future. While commentators often describe this speech as ‘Nietzschean’, Duncan's autobiography suggests that she only studied Nietzsche's work after this speech. I take this incongruity as a starting point to explore the connections between her speech and Nietzsche's work, in particular his Thus Spoke Zarathustra. I argue that in subject and language Duncan's speech resembles Nietzsche's in important ways. This article will draw attention to the ways in which Duncan takes her cues from Nietzsche in bringing together seemingly conflicting ideas of religion and an overturning of morality; Nietzsche's notion of eternal recurrence and the teleology present in his idea of the Übermensch; and a renegotiation of the body's relation to the mind. In doing so, this article contributes not only to scholarship on Duncan's early work but also to discussions of Nietzsche's reception in the early twentieth century. Moreover, the importance Duncan ascribes to the body in dance and expression also asks for a new understanding of Nietzsche's own way of expressing his philosophy.

A Rapture of the Nerds? A Comparison between Transhumanist Eschatology and Christian Parousia

2019 ◽  
Vol 24 (2) ◽  
pp. 343-367
Author(s):  
Roberto Paura
Keyword(s):  
Human Brain ◽  
Point Theory ◽  
The Body ◽  
Christian Theology ◽  
Human Beings ◽  
Human Species ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Creation ◽  
The Universe

Transhumanism is one of the main “ideologies of the future” that has emerged in recent decades. Its program for the enhancement of the human species during this century pursues the ultimate goal of immortality, through the creation of human brain emulations. Therefore, transhumanism offers its fol- lowers an explicit eschatology, a vision of the ultimate future of our civilization that in some cases coincides with the ultimate future of the universe, as in Frank Tipler’s Omega Point theory. The essay aims to analyze the points of comparison and opposition between transhumanist and Christian eschatologies, in particular considering the “incarnationist” view of Parousia. After an introduction concern- ing the problems posed by new scientific and cosmological theories to traditional Christian eschatology, causing the debate between “incarnationists” and “escha- tologists,” the article analyzes the transhumanist idea of mind-uploading through the possibility of making emulations of the human brain and perfect simulations of the reality we live in. In the last section the problems raised by these theories are analyzed from the point of Christian theology, in particular the proposal of a transhuman species through the emulation of the body and mind of human beings. The possibility of a transhumanist eschatology in line with the incarnationist view of Parousia is refused.

Basic Concepts and Definitions of Allergology

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Zoran Vrucinic
Keyword(s):  
Immune Reaction ◽  
The Body ◽  
The Other ◽  
Specific Response ◽  
Other Hand ◽  
Medical Vocabulary ◽  
The Future ◽  
Basic Concepts ◽  
Basic Insight ◽  
Insight Into

The future of medicine belongs to immunology and alergology. I tried to not be too wide in description, but on the other hand to mention the most important concepts of alergology to make access to these diseases more understandable, logical and more useful for our patients, that without complex pathophysiology and mechanism of immune reaction,we gain some basic insight into immunological principles. The name allergy to medicine was introduced by Pirquet in 1906, and is of Greek origin (allos-other + ergon-act; different reaction), essentially representing the reaction of an organism to a substance that has already been in contact with it, and manifested as a specific response thatmanifests as either a heightened reaction, a hypersensitivity, or as a reduced reaction immunity. Synonyms for hypersensitivity are: altered reactivity, reaction, hypersensitivity. The word sensitization comes from the Latin (sensibilitas, atis, f.), which means sensibility,sensitivity, and has retained that meaning in medical vocabulary, while in immunology and allergology this term implies the creation of hypersensitivity to an antigen. Antigen comes from the Greek words, anti-anti + genos-genus, the opposite, anti-substance substance that causes the body to produce antibodies.

scholarly journals Abattoir-Based Measures to Assess Swine Welfare: Analysis of the Methods Adopted in European Slaughterhouses

Animals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 226
Author(s):  
Silvio De Luca ◽  
Emanuela Zanardi ◽  
Giovanni Loris Alborali ◽  
Adriana Ianieri ◽  
Sergio Ghidini
Keyword(s):  
Welfare Analysis ◽  
The Body ◽  
Present Review ◽  
Post Mortem ◽  
Gastric Lesions ◽  
Future Perspectives ◽  
The Future ◽  
On Farm ◽  
Benchmarking System

The assessment of swine welfare requires feasible, reliable, and reasonable indicators. On-farm evaluation of pig welfare can provide valuable information to veterinarians and farmers. However, such protocols can result expensive and time-consuming. With this regard, an interest in the appraisal of swine welfare at abattoir has grown over the recent years. In particular, the use of certain lesions collected directly from slaughtered animals to determine the welfare status of pigs has been evaluated by several authors. In the present review, the different methods developed to score lesions collected directly from the body and the viscera of animals slaughtered in European abattoirs (“abattoir-based measures”) are presented. The text specifically focuses on the methods currently available in the literature for the scoring of body, pluck and gastric lesions during post-mortem activities. Moreover, the strengths and weaknesses of abattoir-based measures schemes are discussed. To conclude, the future perspectives of the assessment of pig welfare at the slaughterhouse are described, appealing for a benchmarking system that can be systematically used by veterinarians and other professional figures involved in the process.

scholarly journals Cannabinoid receptors distribution in mouse cortical plasma membrane compartments

2021 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Hajar Miranzadeh Mahabadi ◽  
Haseeb Bhatti ◽  
Robert B. Laprairie ◽  
Changiz Taghibiglou
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Lipid Raft ◽  
Cannabinoid Receptors ◽  
Gradient Centrifugation ◽  
Brain Regions ◽  
Cb1 Receptor ◽  
The Body ◽  
Cb2 Receptor ◽  
Cortical Tissue ◽  
Ionic Detergent

AbstractThe type 1 and type 2 cannabinoid receptors (CB1 and CB2 receptors) are class A G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) that are activated by endogenous lipids called endocannabinoids to modulate neuronal excitability and synaptic transmission in neurons throughout the central nervous system (CNS), and inflammatory processes throughout the body. CB1 receptor is one of the most abundant GPCRs in the CNS and is involved in many physiological and pathophysiological processes, including mood, appetite, and nociception. CB2 receptor is primarily found on immunomodulatory cells of both the CNS and the peripheral immune system. In this study, we isolated lipid raft and non-lipid raft fractions of plasma membrane (PM) from mouse cortical tissue by using cold non-ionic detergent and sucrose gradient centrifugation to study the localization of CB1 receptor and CB2 receptor. Lipid raft and non-lipid raft fractions were confirmed by flotillin-1, caveolin-1 and transferrin receptor as their protein biomarkers. Both CB1 receptor and CB2 receptor were found in non-raft compartments that is inconsistent with previous findings in cultured cell lines. This study demonstrates compartmentalization of both CB1 receptor and CB2 receptor in cortical tissue and warrants further investigation of CB1 receptor and CB2 receptor compartmental distribution in various brain regions and cell types.

scholarly journals Development of a new method for assessing otolith function in mice using three-dimensional binocular analysis of the otolith-ocular reflex

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Shotaro Harada ◽  
Takao Imai ◽  
Yasumitsu Takimoto ◽  
Yumi Ohta ◽  
Takashi Sato ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Eye Movement ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Vertical Component ◽  
Inertial Force ◽  
Linear Acceleration ◽  
The Body ◽  
Body Axis ◽  
Gravitational Acceleration ◽  
Ocular Reflex ◽  
Translational Movement

AbstractIn the interaural direction, translational linear acceleration is loaded during lateral translational movement and gravitational acceleration is loaded during lateral tilting movement. These two types of acceleration induce eye movements via two kinds of otolith-ocular reflexes to compensate for movement and maintain clear vision: horizontal eye movement during translational movement, and torsional eye movement (torsion) during tilting movement. Although the two types of acceleration cannot be discriminated, the two otolith-ocular reflexes can distinguish them effectively. In the current study, we tested whether lateral-eyed mice exhibit both of these otolith-ocular reflexes. In addition, we propose a new index for assessing the otolith-ocular reflex in mice. During lateral translational movement, mice did not show appropriate horizontal eye movement, but exhibited unnecessary vertical torsion-like eye movement that compensated for the angle between the body axis and gravito-inertial acceleration (GIA; i.e., the sum of gravity and inertial force due to movement) by interpreting GIA as gravity. Using the new index (amplitude of vertical component of eye movement)/(angle between body axis and GIA), the mouse otolith-ocular reflex can be assessed without determining whether the otolith-ocular reflex is induced during translational movement or during tilting movement.

Movement of Calcium Ions and their Role in the Activation of Platelets

1978 ◽  
Vol 40 (02) ◽  
pp. 212-218 ◽  
Author(s):  
P Massini ◽  
R Käser-Glanzmann ◽  
E F Lüscher
Keyword(s):  
Plasma Membrane ◽  
Platelet Activation ◽  
Calcium Ions ◽  
Binding Sites ◽  
Shape Change ◽  
Release Reaction ◽  
Dense Bodies ◽  
Activated Platelets ◽  
Different Types ◽  
Ca Ions

SummaryThe increase of the cytoplasmic Ca-concentration plays a central role in the initiation of platelet activation. Four kinds of movements of Ca-ions are presumed to occur during this process: a) Ca-ions liberated from membranes induce the rapid shape change, b) Vesicular organelles release Ca-ions into the cytoplasm which initiate the release reaction, c) The storage organelles called dense bodies, secrete their contents including Ca-ions to the outside during the release reaction, d) At the same time a rearrangement of the plasma membrane occurs, resulting in an increase in its permeability for Ca-ions as well as in an increase in the number of Ca-binding sites.Since most processes occurring during platelet activation are reversible, the platelet must be equipped with a mechanism which removes Ca-ions from the cytoplasm. A vesicular fraction obtained from homogenized platelets indeed accumulates Ca actively. This Ca- pump is stimulated by cyclic AMP and protein kinase; it may be involved in the recovery of platelets after activation.It becomes increasingly clear that the various manifestations of platelet activation are triggered by a rise in the cytoplasmic Ca2+-concentration. The evidence for this and possible mechanisms involved are discussed in some detail in the contributions by Detwiler et al. and by Gerrard and White to this symposium. In this article we shall discuss four different types of mobilization of Ca-ions which occur in the course of the activation of platelets. In addition, at least one transport step involved in the removal of Ca2+ must occur during relaxation of activated platelets.

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