Search results for "Homeobox"
showing 10 items of 117 documents
Molecular characterization of the zerknüllt region of the Antennapedia complex of D. subobscura.
1995
We have characterized at the molecular level the zerknullt (zen) region of the Drosophila subobscura Antennapedia complex. The sequence comparison between D. subobscura and D. melanogaster shows an irregular distribution of the conserved and diverged regions, with the homeobox and a putative activating domain completely conserved. Comparisons of the promoter sequence and pattern of expression of the gene during development suggest that the regulation of zen has been conserved during evolution. The conservation of zen expression in a subpopulation of the polar cells indicates the existence of an important role in such cells. We describe a transitory segmented pattern of expression of zen in …
Six3 demarcates the anterior-most developing brain region in bilaterian animals
2010
Abstract Background The heads of annelids (earthworms, polychaetes, and others) and arthropods (insects, myriapods, spiders, and others) and the arthropod-related onychophorans (velvet worms) show similar brain architecture and for this reason have long been considered homologous. However, this view is challenged by the 'new phylogeny' placing arthropods and annelids into distinct superphyla, Ecdysozoa and Lophotrochozoa, together with many other phyla lacking elaborate heads or brains. To compare the organisation of annelid and arthropod heads and brains at the molecular level, we investigated head regionalisation genes in various groups. Regionalisation genes subdivide developing animals …
PROX1 transcription factor controls rhabdomyosarcoma growth, stemness, myogenic properties and therapeutic targets
2022
Funding Information: ACKNOWLEDGMENTS. We would like to thank Dr. Tuomas Tammela and Dr. Monika Ehnmann for providing RMS cell lines and Dr. Jenny Högström for discussions and comments during the project. Kirsi Mattinen, Jefim Brodkin, Maxime Laird, Manon Gruchet, Ilse Paetau, Tanja Laakkonen, and Tapio Tainola are acknowledged for their excellent technical help. We also thank the Laboratory Animal Center at the University of Helsinki for expert animal care, the Biomedicum Imaging Unit for microscope support, the Biomedicum Functional Genomics Unit for the RNAseq experiments and the FIMM Technology Centre High Throughput Biomedicine for the drug sensitivity and resistance testing. Our first …
Dorsoventral Patterning of the Brain: A Comparative Approach
2009
Development of the central nervous system (CNS) involves the transformation of a two-dimensional epithelial sheet of uniform ectodermal cells, the neuroectoderm, into a highly complex three-dimensional structure consisting of a huge variety of different neural cell types. Characteristic numbers of each cell type become arranged in reproducible spatial patterns, which is a prerequisite for the establishment of specific functional contacts. Specification of cell fate and regional patterning critical depends on positional information conferred to neural stem cells early in the neuroectoderm. This chapter compares recent findings on mechanisms that control the specification of cell fates along …
Ems and Nkx6 are central regulators in dorsoventral patterning of the Drosophila brain
2009
In central nervous system development, the identity of neural stem cells (neuroblasts) critically depends on the precise spatial patterning of the neuroectoderm in the dorsoventral (DV) axis. Here, we uncover a novel gene regulatory network underlying DV patterning in the Drosophila brain, and show that the cephalic gap gene empty spiracles (ems) and the Nk6 homeobox gene (Nkx6) encode key regulators. The regulatory network implicates novel interactions between these and the evolutionarily conserved homeobox genes ventral nervous system defective (vnd), intermediate neuroblasts defective (ind) and muscle segment homeobox (msh). We show that Msh cross-repressively interacts with Nkx6 to sust…
Segment-specific requirements for dorsoventral patterning genes during early brain development in Drosophila.
2006
An initial step in the development of the Drosophila central nervous system is the delamination of a stereotype population of neural stem cells (neuroblasts, NBs) from the neuroectoderm. Expression of the columnar genes ventral nervous system defective (vnd), intermediate neuroblasts defective (ind) and muscle segment homeobox (msh) subdivides the truncal neuroectoderm(primordium of the ventral nerve cord) into a ventral, intermediate and dorsal longitudinal domain, and has been shown to play a key role in the formation and/or specification of corresponding NBs. In the procephalic neuroectoderm(pNE, primordium of the brain), expression of columnar genes is highly complex and dynamic, and th…
Role of en and novel interactions between msh, ind, and vnd in dorsoventral patterning of the Drosophila brain and ventral nerve cord
2010
AbstractSubdivision of the neuroectoderm into discrete gene expression domains is essential for the correct specification of neural stem cells (neuroblasts) during central nervous system development. Here, we extend our knowledge on dorsoventral (DV) patterning of the Drosophila brain and uncover novel genetic interactions that control expression of the evolutionary conserved homeobox genes ventral nervous system defective (vnd), intermediate neuroblasts defective (ind), and muscle segment homeobox (msh). We show that cross-repression between Ind and Msh stabilizes the border between intermediate and dorsal tritocerebrum and deutocerebrum, and that both transcription factors are competent t…
The transcription factor Zfh1 is involved in the regulation of neuropeptide expression and growth of larval neuromuscular junctions in Drosophila mel…
2008
AbstractDifferent aspects of neural development are tightly regulated and the underlying mechanisms have to be transcriptionally well controlled. Here we present evidence that the transcription factor Zfh1, the Drosophila member of the conserved zfh1 gene family, is important for different steps of neuronal differentiation. First, we show that late larval expression of the neuropeptide FMRFamide is dependent on correct levels of Zfh1 and that this regulation is presumably direct via a conserved zfh1 homeodomain binding site in the FMRFamide enhancer. Using MARCM analysis we additionally examined the requirement for Zfh1 during embryonic and larval stages of motoneuron development. We could …
Characterization of lung tumourspheres reveals cancer stem-like cells potential targets and prognostic markers in non-small cell lung cancer
2019
Abstract Background Non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) is the first cause of death cancer-related worldwide mainly due to high therapeutic resistance. This resistance is related to cancer stem-like cells (CSCs), for which the identification of targets and markers is still ongoing. Methods Primary cultures from 8 NSCLC patients were established as tumorspheres and as monolayers. CSCs properties were tested for both conditions in vitro and in vivo. The expression of 50 CSCs-related genes was assessed by RTqPCR and proteins of significantly overexpressed genes were examined by immunoblot and immunofluorescence. The prognostic role of these genes was analyzed in a cohort of 661 NSCLC patients f…
Homeobox genes and sea urchin development.
2000
We describe the expression of three Paracentrotus lividus homeobox-containing genes of the dispersed class during sea urchin embryogenesis and discuss their possible roles in the mechanisms of cell specification and embryo morphogenesis. PIHbox12 represents the first regulator identified in sea urchin that belongs to the zygotic class of transcription factors. Its early and transient expression and the localization of transcripts suggests that PIHbox12 is involved in cell fate specification of the oral or aboral ectodermal territories at the early cleavage stages. PIHbox9 is expressed just after the completion of gastrulation in a narrow stripe of cells at the ectoderm-endoderm boundary. It…