Biomedical subjects

M V Wiles

Publications and source records attributed to M V Wiles.

4 recordsLinked to original sources

PubMed1992

Interleukin-7 expression during mouse thymus development.

We have monitored the expression of interleukin-7 (IL-7) in the developing embryonic mouse thymus by a combination of quantitative polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and immunofluorescence microscopy. A strong specific signal for IL-7 mRNA was detected by day 12 in the developing fetal thymus. IL-7 mRNA was found to be maximally expressed on day 15, and then decreased over the next 5 days. Immunofluorescence staining of fetal thymus sections using an anti-IL-7 antibody confirmed these PCR data. IL-7 protein expression was first detected at day 13 of development. At 14 days the intensity of the staining increased by a factor of three and stayed at this level over the next 4 days. The same anti-IL-7 antibody used for immunofluorescence, blocked the proliferation of fetal thymocytes in organotypic cultures. In addition, we detected mRNA coding for IL-2 and SCF (also known as the steel factor or KL) in embryonic thymocytes. The implications of these findings for early thymocyte growth are discussed.

Animals↗

PubMed1992

Evolution of vertebrate IgM: complete amino acid sequence of the constant region of Ambystoma mexicanum mu chain deduced from cDNA sequence.

cDNA clones coding for the constant region of the Mexican axolotl (Ambystoma mexicanum) mu heavy immunoglobulin chain were selected from total spleen RNA, using a cDNA polymerase chain reaction technique. The specific 5'-end primer was an oligonucleotide homologous to the JH segment of Xenopus laevis mu chain. One of the clones, JHA/3, corresponded to the complete constant region of the axolotl mu chain, consisting of a 1362-nucleotide sequence coding for a polypeptide of 454 amino acids followed in 3' direction by a 179-nucleotide untranslated region and a polyA+ tail. The axolotl C mu is divided into four typical domains (C mu 1-C mu 4) and can be aligned with the Xenopus C mu with an overall identity of 56% at the nucleotide level. Percent identities were particularly high between C mu 1 (59%) and C mu 4 (71%). The C-terminal 20-amino acid segment which constitutes the secretory part of the mu chain is strongly homologous to the equivalent sequences of chondrichthyans and of other tetrapods, including a conserved N-linked oligosaccharide, the penultimate cysteine and the C-terminal lysine. The four C mu domains of 13 vertebrate species ranging from chondrichthyans to mammals were aligned and compared at the amino acid level. The significant number of mu-specific residues which are conserved into each of the four C mu domains argues for a continuous line of evolution of the vertebrate mu chain. This notion was confirmed by the ability to reconstitute a consistent vertebrate evolution tree based on the phylogenic parsimony analysis of the C mu 4 sequences.

Ambystoma↗

PubMed1992

Rescue of erythroid development in gene targeted GATA-1- mouse embryonic stem cells.

Development of definitive (fetal liver-derived) red cells is blocked by a targeted mutation in the gene encoding the transcription factor GATA-1. We used in vitro differentiation of GATA-1- mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells to reveal a requirement for GATA-1 during primitive (yolk sac-derived) erythropoiesis and to establish a rescue assay. We show that the block to development includes primitive, as well as definitive, erythroid cells and is complete at the level of globin RNA expression; that the introduction of a normal GATA-1 gene restores developmental potential both in vivo and in vitro; and that efficient rescue is dependent on a putative autoregulatory GATA-motif in the distal promoter. Use of in vitro differentiated ES cells bridges a gap between conventional approaches to gene function in cell lines and analysis of loss of function mutations in the whole animal.

Animals↗

PubMed1991

Multiple hematopoietic lineages develop from embryonic stem (ES) cells in culture.

When embryonic stem cells are cultured directly in semisolid media (methyl cellulose), they proliferate and differentiate to generate colonies known as embryoid bodies (EBs). These EBs consist of differentiated cells from a number of lineages including those of the hematopoietic system. Following 10 days of culture in the presence of 10% fetal calf serum, more than 40% of all EBs from three different ES cell lines, CCEG2, D3 and SQ1.2S8 contained visible erythropoietic cells (i.e. red with hemoglobin). Beta H1 (z globin) mRNA is detectable in EBs within 5 days of differentiation, whilst beta(maj)-globin RNA appears by day 6. In the presence of erythropoietin (Epo), the frequency of EBs with erythropoietic activity increases to greater than 60%; Epo also prolongs this erythropoietic activity. Interleukin-3 (IL-3) does not significantly increase the frequency of EBs that contain erythroid cells, but increases slightly the number of erythropoietic cells associated with them. In the presence of IL-3, in addition to cells of the erythroid lineage, macrophages, mast cells and in some instances neutrophils are found within differentiating EBs. The development of macrophages is significantly enhanced by the addition of IL-3 alone or in combination with IL-1 and M-CSF or GM-CSF. When well-differentiated EBs are allowed to attach onto tissue-culture plates and grown in the presence of IL-3, a long-term output of cells from the mast cell lineage is observed.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

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