Search results for "embryonic structures"
showing 10 items of 623 documents
FGFR a promising druggable target in cancer: Molecular biology and new drugs.
2017
Abstract: Introduction: The Fibroblast Growth Factor Receptor (FGFR) family consists of Tyrosine Kinase Receptors (TKR) involved in several biological functions. Recently, alterations of FGFR have been reported to be important for progression and development of several cancers. In this setting, different studies are trying to evaluate the efficacy of different therapies targeting FGFR. Areas Covered: This review summarizes the current status of treatments targeting FGFR, focusing on the trials that are evaluating the FGFR profile as inclusion criteria: Multi-Target, Pan-FGFR Inhibitors and anti-FGF (Fibroblast Growth Factor)/FGFR Monoclonal Antibodies. Expert opinion: Most of the TKR share …
Complexity of gap junctions between horizontal cells of the carp retina.
2016
In the vertebrate retina, horizontal cells (HCs) reveal homologous coupling by gap junctions (gj), which are thought to consist of different connexins (Cx). However, recent studies in mouse, rabbit and zebrafish retina indicate that individual HCs express more than one connexin. To provide further insights into the composition of gj connecting HCs and to determine whether HCs express multiple connexins, we examined the molecular identity and distribution of gj between HCs of the carp retina. We have cloned four carp connexins designated Cx49.5, Cx55.5, Cx52.6 and Cx53.8 with a close relationship to connexins previously reported in HCs of mouse, rabbit and zebrafish, respectively. Using in s…
Assessment of embryo morphology and developmental dynamics by time-lapse microscopy: is there a relation to implantation and ploidy?
2017
Time-lapse microscopy (TLM) is an exciting novel technology with great potential for enhancing embryo selection in the embryology laboratory. This non-invasive objective assessment of embryos has provided a new tool for predicting embryo development and implantation potential. TLM detects several morphological phenomena that are often missed with static observations using conventional incubators, such as irregular divisions, blastocyst collapse and re-expansion, timing of blastocoel appearance, and timing of formation and internalization of fragments. Nevertheless, it should be recognized that conventional morphological assessment has been widely accepted as the gold standard by most embryo…
Genetic Analysis of Human Preimplantation Embryos
2016
Preimplantation development comprises the initial stages of mammalian development, before the embryo implants into the mother's uterus. In normal conditions, after fertilization the embryo grows until reaching blastocyst stage. The blastocyst grows as the cells divide and the cavity expands, until it arrives at the uterus, where it "hatches" from the zona pellucida to implant into the uterine wall. Nevertheless, embryo quality and viability can be affected by chromosomal abnormalities, most of which occur during gametogenesis and early embryo development; human embryos produced in vitro are especially vulnerable. Therefore, the selection of chromosomally normal embryos for transfer in assis…
NANOG Plays a Hierarchical Role in the Transcription Network Regulating the Pluripotency and Plasticity of Adipose Tissue-Derived Stem Cells
2017
The stromal vascular cell fraction (SVF) of visceral and subcutaneous adipose tissue (VAT and SAT) has increasingly come into focus in stem cell research, since these compartments represent a rich source of multipotent adipose-derived stem cells (ASCs). ASCs exhibit a self-renewal potential and differentiation capacity. Our aim was to study the different expression of the embryonic stem cell markers NANOG (homeobox protein NANOG), SOX2 (SRY (sex determining region Y)-box 2) and OCT4 (octamer-binding transcription factor 4) and to evaluate if there exists a hierarchal role in this network in ASCs derived from both SAT and VAT. ASCs were isolated from SAT and VAT biopsies of 72 consenting pat…
Inhibition of tetraspanin functions impairs human papillomavirus and cytomegalovirus infections
2018
Tetraspanins are suggested to regulate the composition of cell membrane components and control intracellular transport, which leaves them vulnerable to utilization by pathogens such as human papillomaviruses (HPV) and cytomegaloviruses (HCMV) to facilitate host cell entry and subsequent infection. In this study, by means of cellular depletion, the cluster of differentiation (CD) tetraspanins CD9, CD63, and CD151 were found to reduce HPV16 infection in HeLa cells by 50 to 80%. Moreover, we tested recombinant proteins or peptides of specific tetraspanin domains on their effect on the most oncogenic HPV type, HPV16, and HCMV. We found that the C-terminal tails of CD63 and CD151 significantly i…
Homeobox NKX2-3 promotes marginal-zone lymphomagenesis by activating B-cell receptor signalling and shaping lymphocyte dynamics
2016
NKX2 homeobox family proteins have a role in cancer development. Here we show that NKX2-3 is overexpressed in tumour cells from a subset of patients with marginal-zone lymphomas, but not with other B-cell malignancies. While Nkx2-3-deficient mice exhibit the absence of marginal-zone B cells, transgenic mice with expression of NKX2-3 in B cells show marginal-zone expansion that leads to the development of tumours, faithfully recapitulating the principal clinical and biological features of human marginal-zone lymphomas. NKX2-3 induces B-cell receptor signalling by phosphorylating Lyn/Syk kinases, which in turn activate multiple integrins (LFA-1, VLA-4), adhesion molecules (ICAM-1, MadCAM-1) a…
NT3/TrkC Pathway Modulates the Expression of UCP-1 and Adipocyte Size in Human and Rodent Adipose Tissue
2021
Neurotrophin-3 (NT3), through activation of its tropomyosin-related kinase receptor C (TrkC), modulates neuronal survival and neural stem cell differentiation. It is widely distributed in peripheral tissues (especially vessels and pancreas) and this ubiquitous pattern suggests a role for NT3, outside the nervous system and related to metabolic functions. The presence of the NT3/TrkC pathway in the adipose tissue (AT) has never been investigated. Present work studies in human and murine adipose tissue (AT) the presence of elements of the NT3/TrkC pathway and its role on lipolysis and adipocyte differentiation. qRT-PCR and immunoblot indicate that NT3 (encoded by NTF3) was present in human re…
Generation of a disease-specific iPS cell line derived from a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth type 2K lacking functional GDAP1 gene
2016
Human CMT2-FiPS4F1 cell line was generated from fibroblasts of a patient with Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease harbouring the following mutations in the GDAP1 gene in heterozygosis: p.Q163X/p.T288NfsX3. This patient did not present mutations in the PM22, MPZ or GJB genes. Human reprogramming factors OCT3/4, KLF4, SOX2 and C-MYC were delivered using a non-integrative methodology that involves the use of Sendai virus.
Limited proteolysis by acrosin affects sperm-binding and mechanical resilience of the mouse zona pellucida.
2021
Abstract The encounter of oocyte and sperm is the key event initiating embryonic development in mammals. Crucial functions of this existential interaction are determined by proteolytic enzymes, such as acrosin, carried in the sperm head acrosome, and ovastacin, stored in the oocyte cortical granules. Ovastacin is released upon fertilisation to cleave the zona pellucida, a glycoprotein matrix surrounding the oocyte. This limited proteolysis hardens the oocyte envelope, and thereby provides a definitive block against polyspermy and protects the developing embryo. On the other hand, acrosin, the renowned and most abundant acrosomal protease, has been thought to enable sperm to penetrate the oo…