Search results for "sea urchin."
showing 10 items of 317 documents
Synthesis of heat-shock proteins in developing sea urchins.
1981
Heating sea urchin embryos at 31°C greatly reduces the synthesis of the bulk proteins, whereas it highly stimulates the synthesis of some new proteins, the main ones being two closely migrating proteins of about 70,000 daltons. The production of heat-shock proteins is obtained only if the embryos are heated after hatching. Stages which produce heat-shock proteins survive heating, whereas earlier stages, not producing heat-shock proteins, do not survive. Heat-shock proteins are not produced in the presence of actinomycin D.
Nickel, lead, and cadmium induce differential cellular responses in sea urchin embryos by activating the synthesis of different HSP70s.
2004
Treatment with heavy metals, such as nickel, lead or cadmium, elicits different cellular stress responses according to the metal used and the length of treatment. In Paracentrotus lividus embryos the inducible forms of HSP70 (HSP70/72) are different in molecular mass from the constitutively expressed HSP75, and they can be used as markers of cellular stress. Even a short treatment with each metal induces the synthesis of HSP70/72 which remain stable for at least 20 h and differ little in their isoelectric points. Continuous treatment from fertilization with nickel or lead produces late irregular pluteus embryos, with peak HSP70/72 synthesis at blastula followed by the arrest of synthesis by…
Rapid changes in heat-shock cognate 70 levels, heat-shock cognate phosphorylation state, heat-shock transcription factor, and metal transcription fac…
2010
The aim of the present study was to analyze and compare the effects of several metals on the embryos of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus, a key species within the Mediterranean Sea ecosystem. Embryos were continuously exposed from fertilization to the following metals: 0.6 mg/l copper, 3 mg/l lead, and 6 mg/l nickel. The embryos were then monitored for metal responses at the gastrula stage, which occurred 24 h after exposure. A biochemical multi-experimental approach was taken and involved the investigation of the levels of HSC70 expression and the involvement of heat shock factor (HSF) and/or metal transcription factor (MTF) in the response. Immunoblotting assays and electrophoretic mo…
Functional characterization of the sea urchin sns chromatin insulator in erythroid cells.
2005
Abstract Chromatin insulators are regulatory elements that determine domains of genetic functions. We have previously described the characterization of a 265 bp insulator element, termed sns, localized at the 3′ end of the early histone H2A gene of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus. This sequence contains three cis-acting elements (Box A, Box B, and Box C + T) all needed for the enhancer-blocking activity in both sea urchin and human cells. The goal of this study was to further characterize the sea urchin sns insulator in the erythroid environment. We employed colony assays in human (K562) and mouse (MEL) erythroid cell lines. We tested the capability of sns to interfere with the communi…
Sea urchin deciliation induces thermoresistance and activates the p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase pathway.
2003
In this study, we demonstrate by a variety of approaches (ie, morphological analysis, Western blots, immunolocalization, and the use of specific antibodies) that hyperosmotic deciliation stress of sea urchin embryos induces a thermotolerant response. Deciliation is also able to activate a phosphorylation signaling cascade the effector of which might be the p38 stress-activated protein kinase because we found that the administration of the p38 inhibitor SB203580 to sea urchin deciliated gastrula embryos makes the hyperosmotic deciliation stress lethal.
Achievement of thermotolerance through hsps phosphorylation in sea urchin embryos.
1995
TPA treatment of sea urchin embryos is able to induce thermotolerance. Evidence is provided that TPA treatment induces phosphorylation of a constitutive stress protein of 38 KDa.
Territorial localization of heat shock mRNA production in sea urchin gastrulae.
1985
In situ hybridization experiments with a labeled DNA probe indicate that the ability to respond to heat shock with the production of the mRNA for the 70 kd heat shock protein is segregated into the ectodermal cells already at the gastrula stage or earlier during the embryonic development of Paracentrotus lividus.
Regulatory sequences driving expression of the sea urchin Otp homeobox gene in oral ectoderm cells.
2005
Abstract PlOtp (Orthopedia), a homeodomain-containing transcription factor, has been recently characterized as a key regulator of the morphogenesis of the skeletal system in the embryo of the sea urchin Paracentrotus lividus . Otp acts as a positive regulator in a subset of oral ectodermal cells which transmit short-range signals to the underlying primary mesenchyme cells where skeletal synthesis is initiated. To shed some light on the molecular mechanisms involved in such a process, we begun a functional analysis of the cis -regulatory sequences of the Otp gene. Congruent with the spatial expression profile of the endogenous Otp gene, we found that while a DNA region from −494 to +358 is s…
The Sea Urchin sns Insulator Blocks CMV Enhancer following Integration in Human Cells
2001
Insulators are a new class of genetic elements that attenuate enhancer function directionally. Previously, we characterized in sea urchin a 265-bp-long insulator, termed sns. To test insulator activity following stable integration in human cells, we placed sns between the CMV enhancer and a tk promoter up-stream of a GFP transgene of plasmid or retroviral vectors. In contrast to controls, cells transfected or transduced with insulated constructs displayed a barely detectable fluorescence. Southern blot and PCR ruled out vector rearrangement following integration into host DNA; RNase protection confirmed the enhancer blocking activity. Finally, we demonstrate that two cis-acting sequences, p…
A study on the effect of the inhibition of polyadenylylation on the production of giant cytoplasmic RNA in sea urchin embryos.
1975
It is suggested that inhibition of RNA polyadenylylation in sea urchin mesenchyme blastulae causes a disturbance of the transport of all the size classes of newly synthesized RNA from the nucleus to the cytoplasm.