Late Embryonic (late + embryonic)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Characterization of TROY-expressing cells in the developing and postnatal CNS: the possible role in neuronal and glial cell development

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 12 2006
Tomoko Hisaoka
Abstract A member of the tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily, TROY, is expressed in the CNS of embryonic and adult mice. In the present study, we characterized TROY-expressing cells in the embryonic and postnatal forebrain. In the early embryonic forebrain, TROY was highly expressed in nestin-positive neuroepithelial cells and radial glial cells, but not in microtubule-associated protein 2-positive postmitotic neurons. During the late embryonic and postnatal development, expression of TROY was observed in radial glial cells and astrocytes, whereas its expression was not detected in neuronal lineage cells. In addition, TROY was exclusively expressed in Musashi-1-positive multipotent/glial progenitors in the postnatal subventricular zone. To investigate the functions of TROY in neural development, we overexpressed TROY in PC12 cells and established stably expressing cell clones. As expected, the signals from overexpressed TROY were constitutively transduced via the activation of the nuclear factor-,B and the c-Jun N-terminal kinase pathways in such clones. In addition, upregulation of negative basic helix,loop,helix transcription factors, HES-5 and Id2 proteins, was observed in the TROY-overexpressing clones. Interestingly, the overexpression of TROY in PC12 cells strongly inhibited nerve growth factor-induced neurite outgrowth with reduction of some markers of differentiated neurons, such as neurofilament 150 kDa and neuron-specific ,-tubulin. These findings suggest that the signaling from TROY regulates neuronal differentiation at least in part. [source]


Myelination triggers local loss of axonal CNR/protocadherin, family protein expression

EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE, Issue 11 2004
Hirofumi Morishita
Abstract The cadherin-related neuronal receptor (CNR)/protocadherin (Pcdh) , family is one of the diverse protocadherin families expressed in developing axons. We observed a strong axonal expression of these proteins at late embryonic and early postnatal stages corresponding to regions where fibers had not yet been myelinated. We therefore followed the postnatal localization of CNR/Pcdh, protein in major axonal tracts, such as the internal capsule, lateral olfactory tract, and optic nerve, and found that its axonal localization was dramatically lost in parallel with the increased expression of myelin markers. Moreover, the hypomyelinated optic nerve tracts of the myelin-deficient Shiverer mouse exhibited elevated levels of CNR/Pcdh, expression. These axonal expression patterns of CNR/Pcdh, in wild-type and Shiverer mice were similar to those of growth associated protein 43 (GAP-43) and L1, both of which are associated with axonal maturation. Thus, myelination may be a trigger for the local loss of axonal CNR/Pcdh, protein, and this process may be important in the maturation of neural circuits. [source]


Impaired postnatal development of hippocampal neurons and axon projections in the Emx2,/, mutants

JOURNAL OF NEUROCHEMISTRY, Issue 5 2002
Nicolai E. Savaskan
Abstract The specification and innervation of cerebral subregions is a complex layer-specific process, primed by region-specific transcription factor expression and axonal guidance cues. In Emx2,/, mice, the hippocampus fails to form a normal dentate gyrus as well as the normal layering of principal neurons in the hippocampus proper. Here, we analyzed the late embryonic and postnatal development of the hippocampal formation and its axonal projections in mice lacking Emx2 expression in vitro. As these mutants die perinatally, we used slice cultures of Emx2 mutant hippocampus to circumvent this problem. In late embryonic Emx2,/, cultivated hippocampi, both the perforant path as well as the distribution of calretinin-positive cells are affected. Traced entorhinal afferents in co-cultures with hippocampus from embryonic Emx2,/, mice terminate diffusely in the prospective dentate gyrus in contrast to the layer-specific termination of co-cultures from wild-type littermates. In addition, in brain slice cultures from null mutants the presumptive dentate gyrus failed to develop its normal cytoarchitecture and mature dentate granule cells, including the lack of their mossy fiber projection. Our data indicate that Emx2 is essential for the terminal differentiation of granular cells and the correct formation of extrinsic and intrinsic hippocampal connections. [source]


Matrix metalloproteinase-dependent shedding of syndecan-3, a transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan, in Schwann cells

JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE RESEARCH, Issue 5 2003
Vinod K. Asundi
Abstract Schwann cells transiently express the transmembrane heparan sulfate proteoglycan syndecan-3 during the late embryonic and early postnatal periods of peripheral nerve development. Neonatal rat Schwann cells released soluble syndecan-3 into the culture medium by a process that was blocked by inhibition of endogenous matrix metalloproteinase activity. When Schwann cells were plated on a substratum that binds syndecan-3, the released proteoglycan bound to the substratum adjacent to the cell border. Membrane-anchored syndecan-3 was concentrated in actin-containing filopodia that projected from the lateral edges of the Schwann cell membrane. Membrane shedding was specific for syndecan-3 and was not observed for the related proteoglycan syndecan-1. Analysis of Schwann cells transfected with wild-type and chimeric syndecan-1 and syndecan-3 cDNAs revealed that membrane shedding was a property of the syndecan-3 ectodomain. Inhibition of syndecan-3 release significantly enhanced Schwann cell adhesion and process extension on dishes coated with the non-collagenous N-terminal domain of ,4(V) collagen, which binds syndecan-3 and mediates heparan sulfate-dependent Schwann cell adhesion. Matrix metalloproteinase-dependent syndecan-3 shedding was also observed in newborn rat peripheral nerve tissue. Syndecan-3 shedding in peripheral nerve tissue was age specific, and was not observed during later stages of postnatal nerve development. These results demonstrate that Schwann cell syndecan-3 is subject to matrix metalloproteinase-dependent membrane processing, which modulates the biological function of this proteoglycan. © 2003 Wiley-Liss, Inc. [source]