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C Yost

Publications and source records attributed to C Yost.

14 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed2000

Interaction among GSK-3, GBP, axin, and APC in Xenopus axis specification.

Glycogen synthase kinase 3 (GSK-3) is a constitutively active kinase that negatively regulates its substrates, one of which is beta-catenin, a downstream effector of the Wnt signaling pathway that is required for dorsal-ventral axis specification in the Xenopus embryo. GSK-3 activity is regulated through the opposing activities of multiple proteins. Axin, GSK-3, and beta-catenin form a complex that promotes the GSK-3-mediated phosphorylation and subsequent degradation of beta-catenin. Adenomatous polyposis coli (APC) joins the complex and downregulates beta-catenin in mammalian cells, but its role in Xenopus is less clear. In contrast, GBP, which is required for axis formation in Xenopus, binds and inhibits GSK-3. We show here that GSK-3 binding protein (GBP) inhibits GSK-3, in part, by preventing Axin from binding GSK-3. Similarly, we present evidence that a dominant-negative GSK-3 mutant, which causes the same effects as GBP, keeps endogenous GSK-3 from binding to Axin. We show that GBP also functions by preventing the GSK-3-mediated phosphorylation of a protein substrate without eliminating its catalytic activity. Finally, we show that the previously demonstrated axis-inducing property of overexpressed APC is attributable to its ability to stabilize cytoplasmic beta-catenin levels, demonstrating that APC is impinging upon the canonical Wnt pathway in this model system. These results contribute to our growing understanding of how GSK-3 regulation in the early embryo leads to regional differences in beta-catenin levels and establishment of the dorsal axis.

Adenomatous Polyposis Coli Protein↗
PubMed2000

Validation of parachlorobenzotrifluoride, benzotrifluoride, and monochlorotoluene on diffusive samplers.

Three solvents (OXSOL 10, monochlorotoluene or mixed isomers of 1- chloro-2-methyl benzene and 1-chloro-4-methyl benzene; OXSOL 100, parachlorobenzotrifluoride or 1-chloro-4-(trifluoromethyl) benzene; and OXSOL 2000, benzotrifluoride or trifluoromethyl benzene) produced by Occidental Chemical Corporation (Niagara Falls, NY) were considered as candidates for SKC, Inc.'s on-going diffusive sampler validation program. The 575-series diffusive sampler contains coconut-shell charcoal (575-001) or Anasorb 747 (575-002). Both samplers were used in this study. Desorption efficiency was tested at loadings equivalent to eight-hour time-weighted average (TWA) exposures to 0.01-2 times the Occidental Chemical Corporation in-house limit values (respectively: 50 ppm, 25 ppm, and 100 ppm,. All results met the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) criteria of > 75 percent, and, except for the lower loadings of parachlorobenzotrifluoride, the results were in the range of 90-110 percent. The calculated uptake rates were verified for different periods of exposure, up to eight hours, and found to be within 5 percent of the calculated for all three compounds on both samplers. A detailed comparison of the results from different time periods indicated no significant reverse diffusion effects for any combination of sampler and analyte. Samplers exposed to standard atmospheres of each compound were stored for three weeks at ambient temperatures and reanalyzed with results between 94 and 107 percent of expected. Based on full validation of samplers for the lower homologue (benzene), the bi-level theory of sample validation as endorsed by international validation protocols establishes this as a complete validation of the featured samplers for sampling vapors of these chemicals in air.

Air Pollution↗
PubMed1998

GBP, an inhibitor of GSK-3, is implicated in Xenopus development and oncogenesis.

Dorsal accumulation of beta-catenin in early Xenopus embryos is required for body axis formation. Recent evidence indicates that beta-catenin is dorsally stabilized by the localized inhibition of the kinase Xgsk-3, utilizing a novel Wnt ligand-independent mechanism. Using a two-hybrid screen, we identified GBP, a maternal Xgsk-3-binding protein that is homologous to a T cell protooncogene in three well-conserved domains. GBP inhibits in vivo phosphorylation by Xgsk-3, and ectopic GBP expression induces an axis by stabilizing beta-catenin within Xenopus embryos. Importantly, antisense oligonucleotide depletion of the maternal GBP mRNA demonstrates that GBP is required for the establishment of the dorsal-ventral axis in Xenopus embryos. Our results define a family of GSK-3-binding proteins with roles in development and cell proliferation.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1997

Establishment of the dorso-ventral axis in Xenopus embryos is presaged by early asymmetries in beta-catenin that are modulated by the Wnt signaling pathway.

Eggs of Xenopus laevis undergo a postfertilization cortical rotation that specifies the position of the dorso-ventral axis and activates a transplantable dorsal-determining activity in dorsal blastomeres by the 32-cell stage. There have heretofore been no reported dorso-ventral asymmetries in endogenous signaling proteins that may be involved in this dorsal-determining activity during early cleavage stages. We focused on beta-catenin as a candidate for an asymmetrically localized dorsal-determining factor since it is both necessary and sufficient for dorsal axis formation. We report that beta-catenin displays greater cytoplasmic accumulation on the future dorsal side of the Xenopus embryo by the two-cell stage. This asymmetry persists and increases through early cleavage stages, with beta-catenin accumulating in dorsal but not ventral nuclei by the 16- to 32-cell stages. We then investigated which potential signaling factors and pathways are capable of modulating the steady-state levels of endogenous beta-catenin. Steady-state levels and nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin increased in response to ectopic Xenopus Wnt-8 (Xwnt-8) and to the inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase-3, whereas neither Xwnt-5A, BVg1, nor noggin increased beta-catenin levels before the mid-blastula stage. As greater levels and nuclear accumulation of beta-catenin on the future dorsal side of the embryo correlate with the induction of specific dorsal genes, our data suggest that early asymmetries in beta-catenin presage and may specify dorso-ventral differences in gene expression and cell fate. Our data further support the hypothesis that these dorso-ventral differences in beta-catenin arise in response to the postfertilization activation of a signaling pathway that involves Xenopus glycogen synthase kinase-3.

Animals↗
PubMed1996

The axis-inducing activity, stability, and subcellular distribution of beta-catenin is regulated in Xenopus embryos by glycogen synthase kinase 3.

The serine/threonine kinase Xgsk-3 and the intracellular protein beta-catenin are necessary for the establishment of the dorsal-ventral axis in Xenopus. Although genetic evidence from Drosophila indicates that Xgsk-3 is upstream of beta-catenin, direct interactions between these proteins have not been demonstrated. We demonstrate that phosphorylation of beta-catenin in vivo requires an in vitro amino-terminal Xgsk-3 phosphorylation site, which is conserved in the Drosophila protein armadillo. beta-catenin mutants lacking this site are more active in inducing an ectopic axis in Xenopus embryos and are more stable than wild-type beta-catenin in the presence of Xgsk-3 activity, supporting the hypothesis that Xgsk-3 is a negative regulator of beta-catenin that acts through the amino-terminal site. Inhibition of endogenous Xgsk-3 function with a dominant-negative mutant leads to an increase in the steady-state levels of ectopic beta-catenin, indicating that Xgsk-3 functions to destabilize beta-catenin and thus decrease the amount of beta-catenin available for signaling. The levels of endogenous beta-catenin in the nucleus increases in the presence of the dominant-negative Xgsk-3 mutant, suggesting that a role of Xgsk-3 is to regulate the steady-state levels of beta-catenin within specific subcellular compartments. These studies provide a basis for understanding the interaction between Xgsk-3 and beta-catenin in the establishment of the dorsal-ventral axis in early Xenopus embryos.

Amino Acid Sequence↗
PubMed1996

Expression of constitutively active Notch arrests follicle cells at a precursor stage during Drosophila oogenesis and disrupts the anterior-posterior axis of the oocyte.

During early development, there are numerous instances where a bipotent progenitor divides to give rise to two progeny cells with different fates. The Notch gene of Drosophila and its homologues in other metazoans have been implicated in many of these cell fate decisions. It has been argued that the role of Notch in such instances may be to maintain cells in a precursor state susceptible to specific differentiating signals. This has been difficult to prove, however, due to a lack of definitive markers for precursor identity. We here perform molecular and morphological analyses of the roles of Notch in ovarian follicle cells during Drosophila oogenesis. These studies show directly that constitutively active Notch arrests cells at a precursor stage, while the loss of Notch function eliminates this stage. Expression of moderate levels of activated Notch leads to partial transformation of cell fates, as found in other systems, and we show that this milder phenotype correlates with a prolonged, but still transient, precursor stage. We also find that expression of constitutively active Notch in follicle cells at later stages leads to a defect in the anterior-posterior axis of the oocyte.

Animals↗
PubMed1994

Migration of ganglion cell precursors in the ileoceca of normal and lethal spotted embryos, a murine model for Hirschsprung disease.

BACKGROUND: Dopamine-beta-hydroxylase-nlacZ transgenic mice are useful for studies of enteric neurodevelopment. Expression of the transgene provides a histochemical marker for neuroblasts in wild-type embryos and embryos homozygous for the lethal spotted (ls) allele that are born with aganglionosis coli and serve as a model for the human birth defect, Hirschsprung disease. Neuroblasts, derived from the vagal neural crest, colonize the gut in a cranial-to-caudal manner. However, migration of neuroblasts in ls/ls gut is impaired when neuroblasts reach the ileocecal junction and attempt to colonize the large intestine. To learn more about neuroblast migration through this specific region of the intestinal tract, a detailed light and electron microscopic study of neuroblast colonization of the developing ileoceca from wild-type, ls/+, and ls/ls embryos was conducted. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: The ileoceca from wild-type, ls/+, and ls/ls, dopamine-beta-hydroxylase-nlacZ embryos (E10.5-E13.5) were treated with a histochemical substrate for the transgene product and examined by light and electron microscopy. RESULTS: Five stages of ileocecal development were defined based on distinctive gross, light, and electron microscopic features. At each stage, neuroblasts had different ultrastructural features than other mesenchymal cells. Initial colonization of the colon was different from other parts of the gut, in that a string of "pioneer" neuroblasts populated the mesenteric border of the proximal colon before circumferential invasion. Subsequently, neuroblasts were arranged in intersecting linear groups of contiguous cells that radiated around the cecum and proximal colon. In ls/ls embryos, transition from neuroblast extension along the mesenteric border to cecal invasion was delayed profoundly. However, the ultrastructural features of neuroblasts and adjacent mesenchyme were indistinguishable in ls/ls and wild-type embryos. CONCLUSIONS: This study supports the hypothesis that impaired migration of neuroblasts in ls/ls embryos is not limited to the presumptive aganglionic segment, but begins at the ileocecal junction. Migration of neuroblasts from the ileum into the proximal colon follows a different pattern than movement of neuroblasts through the small intestine. The biological bases for these differences may account for the defects observed in ls/ls mice and/or may affect the pathogenesis of human Hirschsprung disease.

Animals↗
PubMed1993

Aggregation chimeras demonstrate that the primary defect responsible for aganglionic megacolon in lethal spotted mice is not neuroblast autonomous.

The lethal spotted (ls) mouse has been used as a model for the human disorder Hirschsprung's disease, because as in the latter condition, ls/ls homozygotes are born without ganglion cells in their terminal colons and, without surgical intervention, die early as a consequence of intestinal obstruction. Previous studies have led to the conclusion that hereditary aganglionosis in ls/ls mice occurs because neural crest-derived enteric neuroblasts fail to colonize the distal large intestine during embryogenesis, perhaps due to a primary defect in non-neuroblastic mesenchyme rather than migrating neuroblasts themselves. In this investigation, the latter issue was addressed directly, in vivo, by comparing the distributions of ls/ls and wild-type neurons in aggregation chimeras. Expression of a transgene, D beta H-nlacZ, in enteric neurons derived from the vagal neural crest, was used as a marker for ls/ls enteric neurons in chimeric mice. In these animals, when greater than 20% of the cells were wild-type, the ls/ls phenotype was rescued; such mice were neither spotted nor aganglionic. In addition, these 'rescued' mice had mixtures of ls/ls and wild-type neurons throughout their gastrointestinal systems including distal rectum. In contrast, mice with smaller relative numbers of wild-type cells exhibited the classic ls/ls phenotype. The aganglionic terminal bowel of the latter mice contained neither ls/ls nor wild-type neurons. These results confirm that the primary defect in ls/ls embryos is not autonomous to enteric neuroblasts, but instead exists in the non-neuroblastic mesenchyme of the large intestine.

Animals↗
PubMed1992

A transgenic model for studying development of the enteric nervous system in normal and aganglionic mice.

The dopamine beta-hydroxylase promoter has been shown to direct expression of the reporter gene product, beta-galactosidase, to enteric neurons and putative embryonic neuroblasts in transgenic mice (Mercer et al., 1991; Kapur et al., 1991). In this paper, expression of the transgene, D beta H-nlacZ, in the gastrointestinal tract is characterized in more detail in wild-type mice and mice which are also homozygous for the lethal spotted allele (ls). Expression of the transgene in wild-type embryos was first detected in scattered mesenchymal cells in the proximal foregut on embryonic day 9.5, and progressed distally until embryonic day 13.5 when the entire length of the gut was colonized by such cells. Several observations suggest that the mesenchymal cells which express the transgene (MCET) are, in fact, enteric neuroblasts, probably derived from the vagal neural crest. (1) The presence of MCET in progressively more caudal portions of the embryonic gut correlated with the neurogenic potential of isolated gastrointestinal segments grafted under the renal capsule. (2) Mitotic activity of MCET was demonstrated by incorporation of [3H]thymidine in utero. (3) The migratory behavior of MCET and/or their precursors was revealed in anastomotic subcapsular grafts of gut from transgenic and non-transgenic embryos; enteric ganglia of the latter were populated by MCET from the former. (4) Enteric expression of the transgene postnatally was restricted to intrinsic neurons that coexpressed other phenotypic markers of neuronal differentiation. The pattern of transgene expression in ls/ls mice was identical to that seen in ls/+ and +/+ mice until embryonic day 12.5.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Animals↗
PubMed1988

Flavone acetic acid (NSC 347512)-induced DNA damage in Glasgow osteogenic sarcoma in vivo.

Flavone acetic acid (FAA) is a new antitumor agent with broad activity against transplantable solid tumors of mice but with only scant or no activity against leukemias and lymphomas. The technique of alkaline elution was used to study DNA lesions in s.c. implanted Glasgow osteogenic sarcoma in C57BL/6 x DBA/2 F1 mice treated i.v. with FAA. At efficacious dosages (235 and 200 mg/kg), FAA produced extensive single strand breakage. Formation of single strand breaks was dependent on time of assay after exposure to FAA with only minimal damage occurring prior to 5 h posttreatment. Apparently Glasgow osteogenic sarcoma had no capacity to repair single strand breaks for at least 45 h after drug administration. Thus, FAA differs in its mechanism from other scission agents (e.g., VP-16). Neither interstrand cross-links nor DNA-protein cross-links were detected. DNA single strand breaks did not occur in the bone marrow cells or in the unresponsive P388 leukemia cells at dosages causing extensive DNA damage in solid tumor cells.

Animals↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Lipoprotein-elastin interactions in human aorta fibrous plaque lesions.

The nature of lipoprotein and elastin associated with hyaluronate in human atherosclerotic plaque tissue was studied by digesting the tissues with elastase. The elastase-solubilized lipoprotein-hyaluronate complexes, isolated by Bio-Gel A-50m column chromatography, contained 7.8 mg calcium/100 mg protein. The Sephadex G-200 chromatography of delipidated complexes yielded high (fraction I) and low (fraction II) molecular weight protein fractions. Dialysis of the complexes against 0.01% EDTA resulted in removal of fraction II. Fraction I reacted immunologically against antihuman LDL, and its amino acid composition resembled that of human apoB. Fraction II contained 5 peptide fragment and had high levels of nonpolar amino acids that are characteristic of elastin. However, these peptides also contained high levels of polar amino acids, thus resembling the plaque elastin. These findings suggest that certain regions of plaque elastin may have affinity for apoB containing lipoproteins and calcium.

Amino Acids↗