Establishment of segment polarity in the ectoderm of the leech Helobdella

Development ◽  
2001 ◽  
Vol 128 (9) ◽  
pp. 1629-1641
Author(s):  
E.C. Seaver ◽  
M. Shankland
Keyword(s):  
Single Cells ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Blast Cell ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Detectable Effect ◽  
Primary Blast ◽  
Anteroposterior Axis ◽  
Developmental Fate ◽  
Cell Clones ◽  
Segment Polarity

The segmented ectoderm and mesoderm of the leech arise via a stereotyped cell lineage from embryonic stem cells called teloblasts. Each teloblast gives rise to a column of primary blast cell daughters, and the blast cells generate descendant clones that serve as the segmental repeats of their particular teloblast lineage. We have examined the mechanism by which the leech primary blast cell clones acquire segment polarity - i.e. a fixed sequence of positional values ordered along the anteroposterior axis of the segmental repeat. In the O and P teloblast lineages, the earliest divisions of the primary blast cell segregate anterior and posterior cell fates along the anteroposterior axis. Using a laser microbeam, we ablated single cells from both o and p blast cell clones at stages when the clone was two to four cells in length. The developmental fate of the remaining cells was characterized with rhodamine-dextran lineage tracer. Twelve different progeny cells were ablated, and in every case the ablation eliminated the normal descendants of the ablated cell while having little or no detectable effect on the developmental fate of the remaining cells. This included experiments in which we specifically ablated those blast cell progeny that are known to express the engrailed gene, or their lineal precursors. These findings confirm and extend a previous study by showing that the establishment of segment polarity in the leech ectoderm is largely independent of cell interactions conveyed along the anteroposterior axis. Both intercellular signaling and engrailed expression play an important role in the segment polarity specification of the Drosophila embryo, and our findings suggest that there may be little or no conservation of this developmental mechanism between those two organisms.

Cell lineage and segmentation in the leech

1985 ◽  
Vol 312 (1153) ◽  
pp. 39-56 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cells ◽  
Embryonic Stem Cells ◽  
Cell Lines ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Cell Lineage ◽  
Blast Cell ◽  
Cell Clones ◽  
Cell Patterns ◽  
Blast Cells ◽  
Precise Relationship

Segments in the leech arise by the proliferation of longitudinally arrayed bandlets of blast cells derived from ten identifiable embryonic stem cells, two M, two N, four O /P and two Q teloblasts. In each bandlet, older blast cells lie ahead of those born later. By using microinjected cell lineage tracers it was shown previously that the teloblasts give rise to characteristic cell patterns made up of segmentally iterated complements of progeny designated as M, N, O, P and Q kinship groups. When a teloblast is injected after it has begun generating blast cells, a boundary is observed later in development between anterior, unlabelled progeny of blast cells produced before injection and posterior, labelled progeny of blast cells produced after injection. We have examined such boundaries in detail to establish the precise relationship between blast cell clones and segments, with the following conclusions: (i) in the M, O and P cell lines, one blast cell generates one segmental complement of progeny, but serially homologous blast clones intermix so that no segment boundaries can be defined based on primary blast cell clones; (ii) in the N and Q cell lines, two blast cells are required to generate a complete segmental complement of progeny; (iii) in the process of forming the germinal plate, cells derived from the N and Q teloblasts move past those derived from the M and O /P teloblasts, so that consegmental blast cell clones do not come into register until well after the establishment of segmentally iterated units within each bandlet.

Identification of a neurogenic sublineage required for CNS segmentation in an Annelid

Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (7) ◽  
pp. 2091-2097 ◽  
Author(s):  
F.A. Ramirez ◽  
C.J. Wedeen ◽  
D.K. Stuart ◽  
D. Lans ◽  
D.A. Weisblat
Keyword(s):  
Central Nervous System ◽  
Nervous System ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Lineage Tracing ◽  
Posterior Edge ◽  
Primary Blast ◽  
Segment Polarity ◽  
Blast Cells ◽  
Segment Polarity Gene ◽  
Polarity Gene

In embryos of leeches (phylum Annelida), metameric structures arise sequentially from a germinal plate comprising the descendants of five pairs of embryonic stem cells called teloblasts. It has been shown that transverse stripes of cells expressing ht-en (a homolog of engrailed, a Drosophila segment polarity gene), arise in the germinal plate prior to the appearance of segmental ganglia and that, in the main neurogenic lineage (derived from the N teloblasts), the stripe of cells expressing ht-en demarcates the boundary between prospective segmental ganglia. Previous lineage-tracing experiments had suggested that the clones of nf and ns primary blast cells in the N lineage are confined to within segmental borders. This conclusion was called into question by the observation that the cells expressing ht-en do not appear to be at the very posterior edge of the nf clone, from which they arise. To resolve this issue, we have injected individual primary blast cells with fluorescent lineage tracers; we find that cells in the nf clone actually straddle two adjacent ganglia. Moreover, using photoablation techniques, we find that the nf clone is required for proper morphogenesis of the segmentally iterated central nervous system (CNS).

Cell lineage analysis of the expression of an engrailed homolog in leech embryos

Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 117 (3) ◽  
pp. 857-871 ◽  
Author(s):  
D. Lans ◽  
C.J. Wedeen ◽  
D.A. Weisblat
Keyword(s):  
Early Development ◽  
Body Wall ◽  
Cell Clone ◽  
Cell Lineage ◽  
Blast Cell ◽  
Posterior Portion ◽  
Primary Blast ◽  
Development Stages ◽  
Cell Clones ◽  
Lineage Analysis

ht-en is an engrailed-class gene that is expressed during early development and neurogenesis in embryos of the leech Helobdella triserialis. During the early development of this annelid (stages 7–9), ht-en is expressed in each of the ectodermal and mesodermal teloblast lineages that contributes progeny to the definitive segments. ht-en is expressed transiently by individually identified cells within the segmentally iterated primary blast cell clones. Its expression is correlated with the age of the primary blast cell clone. After consegmental primary blast cell clones from the different teloblast lineages have come into segmental register, cells that express ht-en during stages 7–9 are clearly confined to a transverse region corresponding to the posterior portion of the segmental anlage, but not all cells within this region express ht-en. Only a minority of the identified cells that express ht-en during terminal differentiation of the segmental ganglia and body wall (stages 10–11) are descendants of cells that express ht-en in early development (stages 7–9).

scholarly journals Emergent synchronous beating behavior in spontaneous beating cardiomyocyte clusters

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Kazufumi Sakamoto ◽  
Yoshitsune Hondo ◽  
Naoki Takahashi ◽  
Yuhei Tanaka ◽  
Rikuto Sekine ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Stem Cell ◽  
Embryonic Stem Cell ◽  
Human Embryonic Stem Cell ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Kuramoto Model ◽  
Distribution Analysis ◽  
Cell Clusters ◽  
Overdrive Suppression ◽  
The Kuramoto Model

AbstractWe investigated the dominant rule determining synchronization of beating intervals of cardiomyocytes after the clustering of mouse primary and human embryonic-stem-cell (hES)-derived cardiomyocytes. Cardiomyocyte clusters were formed in concave agarose cultivation chambers and their beating intervals were compared with those of dispersed isolated single cells. Distribution analysis revealed that the clusters’ synchronized interbeat intervals (IBIs) were longer than the majority of those of isolated single cells, which is against the conventional faster firing regulation or “overdrive suppression.” IBI distribution of the isolated individual cardiomyocytes acquired from the beating clusters also confirmed that the clusters’ IBI was longer than those of the majority of constituent cardiomyocytes. In the complementary experiment in which cell clusters were connected together and then separated again, two cardiomyocyte clusters having different IBIs were attached and synchronized to the longer IBIs than those of the two clusters’ original IBIs, and recovered to shorter IBIs after their separation. This is not only against overdrive suppression but also mathematical synchronization models, such as the Kuramoto model, in which synchronized beating becomes intermediate between the two clusters’ IBIs. These results suggest that emergent slower synchronous beating occurred in homogeneous cardiomyocyte clusters as a community effect of spontaneously beating cells.

Transplantation of embryonic stem cells improves cardiac function in postinfarcted rats

2002 ◽  
Vol 92 (1) ◽  
pp. 288-296 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jiang-Yong Min ◽  
Yinke Yang ◽  
Kimber L. Converso ◽  
Lixin Liu ◽  
Qin Huang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Cardiac Function ◽  
Cell Transplantation ◽  
Troponin I ◽  
Es Cells ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Control Group ◽  
Positive Staining ◽  
Es Cell ◽  
Intramyocardial Injection

Massive loss of cardiac myocytes after myocardial infarction (MI) is a common cause of heart failure. The present study was designed to investigate the improvement of cardiac function in MI rats after embryonic stem (ES) cell transplantation. MI in rats was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Cultured ES cells used for cell transplantation were transfected with the marker green fluorescent protein (GFP). Animals in the treated group received intramyocardial injection of ES cells in injured myocardium. Compared with the MI control group injected with an equivalent volume of the cell-free medium, cardiac function in ES cell-implanted MI animals was significantly improved 6 wk after cell transplantation. The characteristic phenotype of engrafted ES cells was identified in implanted myocardium by strong positive staining to sarcomeric α-actin, cardiac α-myosin heavy chain, and troponin I. GFP-positive cells in myocardium sectioned from MI hearts confirmed the survival and differentiation of engrafted cells. In addition, single cells isolated from cell-transplanted MI hearts showed rod-shaped GFP-positive myocytes with typical striations. The present data demonstrate that ES cell transplantation is a feasible and novel approach to improve ventricular function in infarcted failing hearts.

scholarly journals Characterization of CRISPR/Cas9 RANKL knockout mesenchymal stem cell clones based on single-cell printing technology and emulsion coupling assay as a low-cellularity workflow for single-cell cloning

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tobias Groß ◽  
Csaba Jeney ◽  
Darius Halm ◽  
Günter Finkenzeller ◽  
G. Björn Stark ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Single Cell ◽  
Cell Line ◽  
Large Scale ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Protein Detection ◽  
Cell Line Development ◽  
Cell Printing ◽  
Cell Clones ◽  
The University

AbstractThe homogeneity of the genetically modified single-cells is a necessity for many applications such as cell line development, gene therapy, and tissue engineering and in particular for regenerative medical applications. The lack of tools to effectively isolate and characterize CRISPR/Cas9 engineered cells is considered as a significant bottleneck in these applications. Especially the incompatibility of protein detection technologies to confirm protein expression changes without a preconditional large-scale clonal expansion, creates a gridlock in many applications. To ameliorate the characterization of engineered cells, we propose an improved workflow, including single-cell printing/isolation technology based on fluorescent properties with high yield, a genomic edit screen (surveyor assay), mRNA rtPCR assessing altered gene expression and a versatile protein detection tool called emulsion-coupling to deliver a high-content, unified single-cell workflow. The workflow was exemplified by engineering and functionally validating RANKL knockout immortalized mesenchymal stem cells showing altered bone formation capacity of these cells. The resulting workflow is economical, without the requirement of large-scale clonal expansions of the cells with overall cloning efficiency above 30% of CRISPR/Cas9 edited cells. Nevertheless, as the single-cell clones are comprehensively characterized at an early, highly parallel phase of the development of cells including DNA, RNA, and protein levels, the workflow delivers a higher number of successfully edited cells for further characterization, lowering the chance of late failures in the development process.Author summaryI completed my undergraduate degree in biochemistry at the University of Ulm and finished my master's degree in pharmaceutical biotechnology at the University of Ulm and University of applied science of Biberach with a focus on biotechnology, toxicology and molecular biology. For my master thesis, I went to the University of Freiburg to the department of microsystems engineering, where I developed a novel workflow for cell line development. I stayed at the institute for my doctorate, but changed my scientific focus to the development of the emulsion coupling technology, which is a powerful tool for the quantitative and highly parallel measurement of protein and protein interactions. I am generally interested in being involved in the development of innovative molecular biological methods that can be used to gain new insights about biological issues. I am particularly curious to unravel the complex and often poorly understood protein interaction pathways that are the cornerstone of understanding cellular functionality and are a fundamental necessity to describe life mechanistically.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Various Strategies to Generate NPM1mut-Specific T Cell Clones

Blood ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 128 (22) ◽  
pp. 5718-5718 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elke Ruecker-Braun ◽  
Falk Heidenreich ◽  
Cornelia S Link ◽  
Maria Schmiedgen ◽  
Rebekka Wehner ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
T Cell ◽  
Checkpoint Inhibitors ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Molecular Genetic ◽  
Specific Antigen ◽  
Positive Control ◽  
Low Frequencies ◽  
T Cell Clones ◽  
Cell Clones

Abstract Mutated nucleophosmin (NPM1) was identified as a promising leukemia-specific antigen for cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL). NPM1 is a multifunctional nucleocytoplasmic shuttling phosphoprotein. In AML patients with normal cytogenetics NPM1 mutations are the most frequent molecular genetic abnormalities, accounting for up to 60% of the patients. The peptide (AIQDLCLAV) derived from the mutated NPM1 (NPM1mut) has been described to elicit a CTL response restricted to HLA-A*02:01. We observed that NPM1mut multimer+ T cells were very rare in peripheral blood. The limitation of the multimer technology is the absence of a positive control; nevertheless it is an attractive tool to generate antigen positive T cell clones. The goal was to compare strategies for the generation of NPM1mut multimer+ T cell clones systematically. For this purpose we analyzed blood samples from two patients with AML after transplantation and six different healthy donors. We explored different strategies to isolate HLA-A*02:01 restricted NPM1mut multimer+ T single cells. The first strategy was to isolate multimer+ T cells directly from the blood without any supplements by single cell sorting. The second strategy was to sort multimer+ T cells which were previously CD8+ enriched supplementing the media either with or without IL-21. Published by Yongqing et al.IL-21 enhances the generation of human antigen-specific CD8+ T cells. A further strategy was to previously enrich CD14+ cells for the generation of autologous monocyte-derived dendritic cells (MoDCs). The co-cultivation of MoDCs loaded with the NPM1mut peptide and CD8+ cells were performed either with or without IL-21, as well. We expanded the last strategy by a second round of NPM1mut-specific stimulation. So far it was not possible to generate NPM1mut-specific T cell clones based on the advanced strategies and consistently there is no data published on NPM1mut multimer+ T cell clones. This fact raises the question why NPM1mut specific clones display such low frequencies. We want to point out that although we varied the strategies and we used eight different donors the isolation of NPM1mut-specific T cells restricted to HLA-A*02:01 apparently is challenging. Greater efforts, e.g. a larger number of donors or the use of immunological checkpoint inhibitors during cell culture are needed. Disclosures Thiede: AgenDix: Employment, Other: Ownership. Schetelig:Sanofi: Honoraria.

Quantitative Analysis of Gene Function in the Drosophila Embryo

Genetics ◽  
2000 ◽  
Vol 154 (1) ◽  
pp. 273-284
Author(s):  
William D Tracey ◽  
Xiangqun Ning ◽  
Martin Klingler ◽  
Sunita G Kramer ◽  
J Peter Gergen
Keyword(s):  
Gene Function ◽  
Model Systems ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Direct Role ◽  
Developmental Context ◽  
Maternal Mrna ◽  
Early Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Segment Polarity ◽  
Pair Rule

Abstract The specific functions of gene products frequently depend on the developmental context in which they are expressed. Thus, studies on gene function will benefit from systems that allow for manipulation of gene expression within model systems where the developmental context is well defined. Here we describe a system that allows for genetically controlled overexpression of any gene of interest under normal physiological conditions in the early Drosophila embryo. This regulated expression is achieved through the use of Drosophila lines that express a maternal mRNA for the yeast transcription factor GAL4. Embryos derived from females that express GAL4 maternally activate GAL4-dependent UAS transgenes at uniform levels throughout the embryo during the blastoderm stage of embryogenesis. The expression levels can be quantitatively manipulated through the use of lines that have different levels of maternal GAL4 activity. Specific phenotypes are produced by expression of a number of different developmental regulators with this system, including genes that normally do not function during Drosophila embryogenesis. Analysis of the response to overexpression of runt provides evidence that this pair-rule segmentation gene has a direct role in repressing transcription of the segment-polarity gene engrailed. The maternal GAL4 system will have applications both for the measurement of gene activity in reverse genetic experiments as well as for the identification of genetic factors that have quantitative effects on gene function in vivo.

Muscle development is independent of innervation during Drosophila embryogenesis

Development ◽  
1993 ◽  
Vol 119 (2) ◽  
pp. 533-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Broadie ◽  
M. Bate
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Muscle Development ◽  
Single Cells ◽  
Drosophila Embryo ◽  
Wild Type ◽  
Type Pattern ◽  
Motor Nerves ◽  
Embryonic Myogenesis ◽  
Peripheral Motor

We have examined the role of innervation in directing embryonic myogenesis, using a mutant (prospero), which delays the pioneering of peripheral motor nerves of the Drosophila embryo. In the absence of motor nerves, myoblasts fuse normally to form syncytial myotubes, myotubes form normal attachments to the epidermis, and a larval musculature comparable to the wild-type pattern is generated and maintained. Likewise, the twist-expressing myoblasts that prefigure the adult musculature segregate normally in the absence of motor nerves, migrate to their final embryonic positions and continue to express twist until the end of embryonic development. In the absence of motor nerves, myotubes uncouple at the correct developmental stage to form single cells. Subsequently, uninnervated myotubes develop the mature electrical and contractile properties of larval muscles with a time course indistinguishable from normally innervated myotubes. We conclude that innervation plays no role in the patterning, morphogenesis, maintenance or physiological development of the somatic muscles in the Drosophila embryo.

The T gene is necessary for normal mesodermal morphogenetic cell movements during gastrulation

Development ◽  
1995 ◽  
Vol 121 (3) ◽  
pp. 877-886 ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Wilson ◽  
L. Manson ◽  
W.C. Skarnes ◽  
R.S. Beddington
Keyword(s):  
T Cells ◽  
Neural Tube ◽  
Es Cells ◽  
Embryonic Stem ◽  
Primitive Streak ◽  
Distal Portion ◽  
Adhesion Properties ◽  
Cell Clones ◽  
Posterior Neuropore ◽  
Pass Through

The T (Brachyury) deletion in mouse is responsible for defective primitive streak and notochord morphogenesis, leading to a failure of the axis to elongate properly posterior to the forelimb bud. T/T embryonic stem (ES) cells colonise wild-type embryos, but in chimeras at 10.5 days post coitum (dpc) onwards they are found predominantly in the distal tail, while trunk paraxial and lateral mesoderm are deficient in T/T cells (Wilson, V., Rashbass, P. and Beddington, R. S. P. (1992) Development 117, 1321–1331). To determine the origin of this abnormal tissue distribution, we have isolated T/T and control T/+ ES cell clones which express lacZ constitutively using a gene trap strategy. Visualisation of T/T cell distribution in chimeric embryos throughout gastrulation up to 10.5 dpc shows that a progressive buildup of T/T cells in the primitive streak during gastrulation leads to their incorporation into the tailbud. These observations make it likely that one role of the T gene product is to act during gastrulation to alter cell surface (probably adhesion) properties as cells pass through the primitive streak. As the chimeric tail elongates at 10.5 dpc, abnormal morphology in the most distal portion becomes apparent. Comparison of T expression in the developing tailbud with the sites of accumulation of T/T cells in chimeras shows that T/T cells collect in sites where T would normally be expressed. T expression becomes internalised in the tailbud following posterior neuropore closure while, in abnormal chimeric tails, T/T cells remain on the surface of the distal tail. We conclude that prevention of posterior neuropore closure by the wedge of T/T cells remaining in the primitive streak after gastrulation is one source of the abnormal tail phenotypes observed. Accumulation of T/T cells in the node and anterior streak during gastrulation results in the preferential incorporation of T/T cells into the ventral portion of the neural tube and axial mesoderm. The latter forms compact blocks which are often fused with the ventral neural tube, reminiscent of the notochordal defects seen in intact mutants. Such fusions may be attributed to cell-autonomous changes in cell adhesion, possibly related to those observed at earlier stages in the primitive streak.

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