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PubMed1999

Apoptosis and predisposition to oral cancer.

The term apoptosis, also known as programmed cell death (PCD), was coined by developmental biologists a number of years ago to describe a form of cell death characterized by several unique morphological and biochemical features. Genetic studies of the round worm Caeneorhabditis elegans, a simple multicellular organism, first revealed apoptosis to be an integral part of the developmental program. Subsequently, the importance of apoptosis in higher organisms was demonstrated in several eukaryotic systems. [n mammals, apoptosis is widespread during embryogenesis and in adult tissues. It is required for normal tissue homeostasis and for clonal selection in the immune system. In both developing and adult organisms, apoptosis plays a central role in reinforcing appropriate cellular patterns and in regulating cell number by eliminating cells that are harmful or no longer needed. It is becoming increasingly clear that disruption in the apoptosis pathway can contribute to the development of a number of developmental, inflammatory, degenerative, and neoplastic diseases. The effector arm of the apoptotic program includes members of the Bcl-2 gene family that function as either death agonists or death antagonists. These proteins participate in an elaborate genetically controlled biochemical pathway that functions to maintain tissue and organ homeostasis and serve as a critical defense mechanism to guard against malignant transformation. Cancer is the result of a series of genetic lesions that include activation of oncogenes and inactivation or loss of tumor suppressor genes. Several groups of investigators have observed that deregulated expression of oncogenes can subvert apoptotic pathways, resulting in prolonged cell survival. In pathological settings such as cancer, members of the Bcl-2 gene family are able to synergize with oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes to transform cells. In this review, we describe the process of apoptosis in mammalian cells and define the role and biochemical pathways through which the Bcl-2 gene family induce and/or protect cells from apoptosis. Last, we will discuss the evidence which suggests that alterations in this pathway may play a central role in tumorigenesis by allowing genetically damaged cells normally destined for elimination to persist, predisposing them to additional mutations and driving them to malignancy.

Adult↗

PubMed2003

Post-transcriptional regulation of the Streptomyces coelicolor stress responsive sigma factor, SigH, involves translational control, proteolytic processing, and an anti-sigma factor homolog.

The sigH gene encodes a sigma factor whose transcription is controlled by stress regulatory systems and the developmental program in Streptomyces coelicolor. Here, we describe developmentally regulated post-transcriptional control systems for SigH. sigH is expressed as three primary translation products, SigH-sigma(37), SigH-sigma(51), and SigH-sigma(52). In vitro, SigH-sigma(52) was comparable to SigH-sigma(37) in its ability to associate with RNA polymerase core enzyme and specifically initiate transcription in vitro. While SigH-sigma(51/52) were the primary gene products observed throughout early phases of growth, their abundance decreased during later stages in liquid or solid phase cultures while levels of shorter, C-terminally encoded products increased. These included SigH-sigma(37), a product of the downstream translational initiation site, as well as two proteolytic derivatives of SigH-sigma(51/52) (34kDa and 38kDa). Accumulation of SigH-sigma(37) and processing of SigH-sigma(51/52) into these stable 34kDa and 38kDa derivatives correlated with morphological changes on solid medium and physiological maturation in liquid medium. SigH-sigma(51/52) processing did not occur on medium non-permissive for aerial mycelium formation or in one particular developmental mutant (brgA). The proteolytic activity could be detected in vitro using crude extracts of stationary phase cultures, but was absent from exponential phase cultures. prsH, the gene upstream of sigH having sequence similarity to known anti-sigma factors, was able to bind to, and thus presumably inactivate SigH-sigma(52), SigH-sigma(51), and SigH-sigma(37). We have shown elsewhere that prsH was conditionally required for colonial development. Thus, while at least one transcriptional regulator is known to bring about the accumulation of sigH mRNA at different times and different locations in colonies, the post-transcriptional processes described here regulate the activity of different SigH isoforms and program their temporal accumulation pattern, i.e. the elimination of SigH-sigma(51/52) and accumulation of SigH-sigma(37)-like proteins, as a function of development.

Amino Acid Sequence↗

PubMed2000

Genotype, phenotype, and developmental biology of molar tooth characters.

Primate molar shapes reflect developmental and ecological processes. Development may constrain as well as facilitate evolution of new tooth shapes, affecting how reliable dental characters are in phylogenetic studies. Much of the genetic machinery of development uses the same genes among different organs, including teeth, limbs, and feathers. Furthermore, within a tooth, the development of individual cusps repeatedly uses the same set of developmental genes, forming a "developmental module." The repeated activation of the developmental module can explain the cumulative variation in later-developing cusps. Therefore short, later-developing cusps may be evolvable but also more homoplastic. This patterning cascade mode of cusp development can be used to explain the variational properties of dental characters and character states related to cusp initiation. The developmental basis and variational properties of crown termination, cusp shape, and cusp configuration characters are currently less well understood. It is unlikely that there is a simple "gene to phenotype" map for dental characters. Rather, the whole cusp pattern is a product of a dynamic developmental program manifested in the activation of the developmental modules.

Animals↗

PubMed1994

Gene expression in single cells of Bacillus subtilis: evidence that a threshold mechanism controls the initiation of sporulation.

Early during endospore formation in the bacterium Bacillus subtilis, two distinct cell types are formed. The initiation of this developmental pathway requires several physiological conditions (e.g., nutrient deprivation) and is controlled by the Spo0A transcription factor. We have found that in a culture of sporulating cells, there are two subpopulations, one that has initiated the developmental program and activated the expression of early developmental genes and one in which early developmental gene expression remains uninduced. We measured the expression of developmental (spo) genes in single cells of B. subtilis by using spo-lacZ fusions. Cells containing a spo-lacZ fusion were stained with a dye that fluoresces upon hydrolysis by beta-galactosidase, and the fluorescence in individual cells was measured with a flow cytometer. For Spo+ cells, we found that the proportion of the population expressing early developmental genes correlates well with the fraction of the population that eventually produces spores. In addition, mutations that cause a decrease in the amount of activated (phosphorylated) Spo0A transcription factor cause a decrease in the size of the subpopulation expressing early developmental genes that are directly activated by Spo0A approximately P. Again, the size of the subpopulation correlates well with the fraction of cells that produce spores. These results indicate that a threshold level of activated Spo0A (Spo0A approximately P) or of a component of the phosphorylation pathway must accumulate to induce sporulation gene expression and that most of the cells that are able to induce the expression of early genes that are directly activated by Spo0A approximately P go on to produce mature spores.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

Bacillus subtilis↗

PubMed1995

Redox regulation of programmed cell death in lymphocytes.

A redox imbalance caused by an over-production of prooxidants or a decrease in antioxidants seems to play a role in the programmed cell death that occurs in various developmental programs. Such a physiological function for oxidative stress is particularly applicable to the immune system, wherein individual lymphocytes undergo continuous scrutiny to determine if they should be preserved or programmed to die. Following activation, lymphocytes produced increased levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS) which may serve as intracellular signaling molecules. The ultimate outcome of this increased ROS formation, i.e., lymphocyte proliferation versus programmed cell death, may be dictated by macrophage-derived costimulatory molecules that bolster or diminish lymphocyte antioxidant defenses. HIV-1-infected individuals display multiple symptoms of redox imbalance consistent with their being in oxidative stress, and lymphocytes from such individuals are more prone to undergo apoptosis in vitro. It is suggested that oxidative stress, and lymphocytes from such individuals are more prone to undergo apoptosis in vitro. It is suggested that oxidative stress is a physiological mediator of programmed cell death in lymphoid cells, and that HIV disease represents an extreme case of what can happen when regulatory safeguards are compromised.

Apoptosis↗

PubMed2002

p53 regulates apoptotic retinal ganglion cell death induced by N-methyl-D-aspartate.

PURPOSE: The tumor suppressor protein p53 plays a central role in regulating apoptosis in a variety of neuronal cell types. Previous studies have indicated that retinal ganglion cell (RGC) death induced by ischemia follows a p53-dependent pathway. Ischemia causes wide-spread damage to the retina, eliciting multiple different damaging pathways. We conducted experiments to specifically investigate the role of p53 in RGC death activated by overstimulation of the N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor, an ionotropic glutamate dependent calcium channel normally involved in glutamate neurotransduction. METHODS: RGC death was induced in both wild-type (CB6F1 or 129/Sv) and p53-deficient (129/Sv background) mice by a single intravitreal injection of either 40 or 160 nmol of NMDA into one eye leaving the other eye as an untreated control. Cell loss was quantified by comparing the number of surviving cells in the retinas from experimental eyes relative to the control eyes of the same animals. The accumulation of p53 mRNA in retinas was monitored by reverse-transcription PCR (RT-PCR) of retinal total RNA isolated from mice injected with 40 nmol of NMDA. The functional requirement for p53 was monitored in p53-deficient mice after intravitreal injection of 160 nmol of NMDA. Immunohistochemistry for cleaved poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP) was performed on p53-deficient mice after intravitreal injection of 160 nmol of NMDA. RESULTS: In wild-type CB6F1 mice, p53 mRNA levels are elevated within 3 h after NMDA injection. This accumulation correlates with the onset of changes in RGC nuclear morphology that precedes pyknosis, which occurs by 6 h. Mice (129/Sv) deficient for one or both alleles of p53 show no developmental change in RGC number, compared to wild-type animals (Mann-Whitney test, p=0.824), suggesting that p53 is not required for developmental programmed cell death of RGCs. In adult mice, however, p53-dependent changes in the rate of RGC death after exposure to 160 nmol of NMDA were observed. Four days after injection, p53+/+ and p53-/- mice exhibit statistically equivalent amounts of cell loss (p>0.1), while p53+/- mice have significantly attenuated cell loss (p<0.002), relative to the other groups. RGCs from NMDA-treated p53+/+ and p53-/- mice were analyzed further using immunohistochemistry to identify the cleavage products of poly(ADP-ribose) polymerase (PARP), a known substrate for caspases. Cleaved PARP was found in p53+/+ and p53+/- eyes, but not in p53-/- mice. CONCLUSIONS: Developmental RGC programmed cell death does not require p53. Selective overstimulation of the glutamate-dependent NMDA-receptor in adult mice activates a p53-dependent pathway of death in RGCs. The requirement for p53 is not absolute, however, because mice lacking this gene are able to execute an alternative pathway of cell death. Examination of the cleavage of PARP, which is a substrate for caspases, suggests that the p53-dependent pathway utilizes these proteases, but the p53-independent pathway does not.

Animals↗

PubMed1996

Globin gene switching. In vivo protein-DNA interactions of the human beta-globin locus in erythroid cells expressing the fetal or the adult globin gene program.

To characterize the protein-DNA interactions important for the developmental control of the human beta-globin locus, we analyzed by in vivo dimethyl sulfate footprinting erythroid cells expressing either the fetal or the adult globin developmental program. In the locus control region (LCR) of the beta-globin locus, in vivo footprints on NF-E2 (or AP-1) and GATA-1 motifs remained the same regardless of whether the fetal or the adult globin genes are expressed. In contrast, in vivo footprints on GT (CACCC) motifs differed between the cells expressing the fetal or the adult globin program. In promoter regions, the actively transcribed genes demonstrated extensive and consistent footprints over the canonical elements, such as CACCC and CCAAT motifs. The adult globin expressing cells displayed more extensive footprints than the fetal globin expressing cells in the 3' regulatory sequences of both the Agamma- and the beta-globin genes, suggesting a role of these 3' elements in beta-globin gene expression. Our results suggest that the bulk of protein-DNA interactions that underlies the developmental control of globin genes takes place in the gamma- and beta-globin gene promoters, and that GT motifs of the beta-globin locus LCR may play a role in the developmental regulation of human beta-globin gene expression, perhaps by increasing the probability of interaction of the LCR holocomplex with the fetal or the adult globin gene.

Adult↗

PubMed2000

Plant proteolytic enzymes: possible roles during programmed cell death.

Proteolytic enzymes are known to be associated with developmentally programmed cell death during organ senescence and tracheary element differentiation. Recent evidence also links proteinases with some types of pathogen- and stress-induced cell suicide. The precise roles of proteinases in these and other plant programmed cell death processes are not understood, however. To provide a framework for consideration of the importance of proteinases during plant cell suicide, characteristics of the best-known proteinases from plants including subtilisin-type and papain-type enzymes, phytepsins, metalloproteinases and the 26S proteasome are summarized. Examples of serine, cysteine, aspartic, metallo- and threonine proteinases linked to animal programmed cell death are cited and the potential for plant proteinases to act as mediators of signal transduction and as effectors of programmed cell death is discussed.

Apoptosis↗

PubMed1996

A relationship between apoptosis and flow during programmed capillary regression is revealed by vital analysis.

Previous analyses of developmentally programmed capillary regression suggested two distinct causes of vascular endothelial cell (VEC) death. The first appeared to be macrophage-dependent (Lang, R. A. and Bishop, M. J. (1993) Cell 74, 453-462) while the second was proposed to result from cessation of blood flow (Lang, R. A., Lustig, M., Francois, F., Sellinger, M. and Plesken, H. (1994). Development 120, 3395-3403). Combined, these analyses suggested a model in which initial, macrophage-mediated endothelial cell apoptosis blocked blood flow within a capillary segment and, as a consequence, caused apoptosis of all remaining cells in the affected segment. In the current study, we have tested this model using a new method that combines vital and histological analyses as a means of determining the fate of whole capillary segments and individual cells in vivo. This technique revealed that one of the first events in regression was the apoptosis of a single VEC in otherwise normal, flowing capillary segments (initiating apoptosis). These isolated, dying VECs projected into and restricted the capillary lumen, imposing either a temporary or permanent block to blood flow. Following cessation of flow, synchronous apoptosis of VECs occurred (secondary apoptosis). In addition, a quantitative analysis revealed a reciprocal relationship between plasma flow and VEC apoptosis. These observations are consistent with a model for capillary regression in which macrophages induce apoptosis in a limited number of VECs and, as a consequence of a block to blood flow, also cause apoptosis in those remaining.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Larval and metamorphic development of the foregut and proboscis in the caenogastropod Marsenina (Lamellaria) stearnsii.

The specialized, postmetamorphic feeding structures of predatory caenogastropods evolved by changes to an ancestral caenogastropod developmental program that generated a planktotrophic larval stage followed by a herbivorous postmetamorphic stage. As part of a program of comparative studies aimed at reconstructing these developmental changes, I studied the development of the postmetamorphic feeding system of Marsenina stearnsii using histological sections for light microscopy and scanning and transmission electron microscopy. The feeding system of this species has two very different designs during ontogeny. The larval system uses ciliary effectors to capture and ingest microalgae, whereas the juvenile/adult system includes a proboscis, jaws, and radular apparatus for predation on ascidian zooids. The postmetamorphic foregut begins to develop during the early larval phase, but the anlagen does not interfere with larval feeding because it develops as an increasingly elaborate outpocketing from the ventral wall of the larval esophagus. At metamorphosis, an opening is created in the anterior tip of the prospective, postmetamorphic buccal cavity and the margins of this opening anneal with the metamorphically remodeled lips of the larval mouth. This process exposes the jaws, which differentiate within the buccal cavity prior to metamorphosis. As a working hypothesis, I suggest that rupture of the buccal cavity to the outside at metamorphosis was selected as a mechanism to allow precocious development of jaws in species where jaws enhanced feeding performance by young juveniles. The larval esophagus of M. stearnsii appears to be completely destroyed at metamorphosis. Larval esophageal cells have distinctive apical characteristics (cilia, blebbed microvilli, stacks of lamellae within the glycocalyx) and no cells having this signature persist through metamorphosis. Development of the proboscis and proboscis sac, which begins prior to metamorphosis, conforms to previous descriptions of pleurembolic proboscis development, although an acrembolic proboscis has been ascribed to members of the Lamellaroidea.

Animals↗

PubMed1997

Temporal and spatial control of murine GATA-3 transcription by promoter-proximal regulatory elements.

GATA-3 is expressed in a temporally dynamic manner and fulfills vital functions during vertebrate fetal development. Homozygous mGATA-3 mutant embryos die at midgestation, thus complicating the analysis of its contribution to the development of specific cell fates in the many tissues where it is expressed during embryogenesis. We show here that the elements controlling GATA-3 regulation can be precisely refined, using transgenic mice, to discrete cis-acting domains: within 6 kb surrounding the transcriptional initiation site, separate sequences were found to control the expression of mGATA-3 in early muscle masses, in a subset of PNS neurons, in the genital tubercle, and in the branchial arches. The branchial arch regulatory element is particularly robust and was refined to a discrete enhancer sequence lying between nt -2832 and -2462 from the transcription initiation site. The enhancer contains potential binding sites for many well-characterized transcription factors, suggesting that mGATA-3 transcriptional activity may be regulated by these proteins (or related family members) in the mesenchyme of the arches that contribute to formation of the jaw. These studies show that discrete regulatory elements required for the elaboration of complex developmental programs can be individually localized, suggesting that the developmentally transient expression of individual transcription factors collaboratively contributes to the temporal and spatial pattern of cellular differentiation leading to the formation of adult anatomy.

Animals↗

PubMedDate not supplied

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of leukemic hemopoietic cell differentiation: an analysis of the Friend system.

Murine erythroleukemia (MEL or Friend) cells grown in culture and induced to differentiate into cells resembling orthochromatic normoblasts provide a suitable system for uncovering molecular and cellular mechanisms of hemopoiesis and for understanding globin gene regulation. Inducer-treated cells undergo an irreversible commitment to maturation and accumulate large amounts of hemoglobin. Clonal analysis of commitment of individual cells combined with biochemical measurements has revealed that MEL cell differentiation is a highly coordinated set of events (program) leading to the differentiated erythroid state. The developmental program of MEL cells consists of early and late processes. The early events appear to be membrane-mediated processes which operate independently of each other and lead to commitment to terminal maturation and hemoglobin synthesis. Inducer-treated cells express an ability to remember ("memory response") previous exposure to inducer and to continue their differentiation after discontinuous exposure to inducer; expression of "memory response" occurs early in differentiation and affects both the initiation of commitment and accumulation of globin mRNA in a similar manner in inducer-treated cells. Commitment to maturation appears to be the central process responsible for determining the pattern of gene expression, limitation of proliferative activity and nuclear condensation. Commitment, however, can occur independently of hemoglobin synthesis. Although initiation of commitment is associated with early membrane-mediated events (e.g., ion-transport), maintenance and completion of maturation erythroid state is a result of a number of cellular processes. These processes are discussed in relation to the molecular and cellular mechanisms of initiation and completion of MEL cell differentiation. The role of the MEL system as a model for studying mouse and human globin gene regulation is presented.

Animals↗

PubMed2001

Headless flies generated by developmental pathway interference.

Ectopic expression of transcription factors in eye-antennal discs of Drosophila strongly interferes with their developmental program. Early ectopic expression in embryonic discs interferes with the developmental pathway primed by Eyeless and generates headless flies, which suggests that Eyeless is necessary for initiating cell proliferation and development of both the eye and antennal disc. Interference occurs through a block in the cell cycle that for some ectopic transcription factors is overcome by D-CycE or D-Myc. Late ectopic expression in cone cell precursors interferes with their differentiation. We propose that this developmental pathway interference is a general surveillance mechanism that eliminates most aberrations in the genetic program during development and evolution, and thus seriously restricts the pathways that evolution may take.

Animals↗

PubMed2002

Extracting transcriptional events from temporal gene expression patterns during Dictyostelium development.

MOTIVATION: The DNA microarray technology can generate a large amount of data describing the time-course of gene expression. These data, when properly interpreted, can yield a great deal of information concerning differential gene expression during development. Much current effort in bioinformatics has been devoted to the analysis of gene expression data, usually via some 'clustering analysis' on the raw data in some abstract high dimensional space. Here, we describe a method where we first 'process' the raw time-course data using a simple biologically based kinetic model of gene expression. This allows us to reduce the vast data to a few vital attributes characterizing each expression profile, e.g. the times of the onset and cessation of the expression of the developmentally regulated genes. These vital attributes can then be trivially clustered by visual inspection to reveal biologically significant effects. RESULTS: We have applied this approach to microarray expression data from samples isolated every 2 h throughout the 24 h developmental program of Dictyostelium discoideum. mRNA accumulation patterns for 50 developmental genes were found to fit the kinetic model with a p-value of 0.05 or better. Transcription of these genes appears to be initiated in bursts at well-defined periods during development, in a manner suggestive of a dependent sequence. This approach can be applied to analyses of other temporal gene expression patterns, including those of the cell cycle.

Algorithms↗

PubMed2003

Program-specific distribution of a transcription factor dependent on partner transcription factor and MAPK signaling.

Specialized gene expression programs are induced by signaling pathways that act on transcription factors. Whether these transcription factors can function in multiple developmental programs through a global switch in promoter selection is not known. We have used genome-wide location analysis to show that the yeast Ste12 transcription factor, which regulates mating and filamentous growth, is bound to distinct program-specific target genes dependent on the developmental condition. This condition-dependent distribution of Ste12 requires concurrent binding of the transcription factor Tec1 during filamentation and is differentially regulated by the MAP kinases Fus3 and Kss1. Program-specific distribution across the genome may be a general mechanism by which transcription factors regulate distinct gene expression programs in response to signaling.

DNA-Binding Proteins↗

PubMed1997

Genes that induce apoptosis: transcriptional regulation in identified, doomed neurons of the Drosophila CNS.

Hormones and trophic factors provide cues that control neuronal death during development. These developmental cues in some way regulate activation of apoptosis, the mechanism by which most, if not all, developmentally programmed cell deaths occur. In Drosophila, apoptosis can be induced by the expression of the genes reaper, grim, or head involution defective. We demonstrate that prior to the death of a set of identifiable doomed neurons, these neurons accumulate transcripts of the reaper and grim genes, but do not accumulate transcripts of the head involution defective gene. Death of these doomed neurons can be suppressed by two manipulations: by increasing the levels of the steroid hormone 20-hydroxyecdysone or by decapitation. We have investigated the impact that these two manipulations have on reaper expression. Steroid treatment prevents the accumulation of reaper transcripts, whereas decapitation results in the accumulation of lower levels of reaper transcripts that are not sufficient to activate apoptosis. These data demonstrate that in vivo, reaper, and grim transcripts accumulate coordinately in a set of identified doomed neurons prior to the onset of apoptosis. These observations raise the possibility that products of the reaper and grim genes act in concert in postembryonic neurons to induce apoptosis. That reaper transcript accumulation is regulated by the steroid hormone titer and by the presence of the head is evidence that developmental factors control programmed cell death by regulating the expression of genes that induce apoptosis.

Animals↗

PubMed1982

Membrane transport during erythroid differentiation.

Transport, unidirectional flux, of a monosaccharide, a nucleoside and three amino acids, all of which enter cells by independent, discrete carriers, was compared at three stages of erythroid maturation, the normal (anucleate) mouse erythrocyte, and in differentiated and undifferentiated Friend erythroleukemia cells. We found specific transport alterations during this developmental program. Transport of 3-O-methylglucose increased with each successive developmental stage. Aminoisobutyrate transport was maintained during Friend cell differentiation, but fell slightly in erythrocytes. Leucine, lysine and uridine transport began to fall two days after dimethylsulfoxide exposure, and diminished further in red cells. These studies of transport are not directly comparable to uptake studies reported by others. Median cell volume and thus surface area decreased more during differentiation than amino acid transport declined, so flux, transport past a unit area of membrane, actually increased. Monosaccharide flux also increased. Only uridine transport fell in parallel to surface area. Perhaps sites for nutrient transport required for energy production are preferentially maintained.

Aminoisobutyric Acids↗

PubMed1989

Immediate-early genes, kindling and long-term potentiation.

The mechanism(s) by which long-term changes are induced and maintained in the nervous system are poorly understood. Kindling is an example of a permanent change in brain function that results from repeated elicitation of seizures. Recently, a class of genes called "immediate-early genes" that were previously thought to be only involved in cell division, differentiation and perhaps neoplasia have been shown to be rapidly and transiently induced in adult neurons following afterdischarges, ECS and chemically-evoked seizures. The products of these genes (e.g., FOS, JUN) are DNA-binding proteins and it is thought that they alter, perhaps in a coordinate fashion, the transcription of "late-effector genes." These late genes may code for enzymes, neuropeptides, receptors, ion channels, structural proteins, growth factors, etc. that may cause permanent biochemical and/or morphological changes in the brain that give rise to the kindled state. Thus, these early genes may act as molecular switches turning on a plasticity (kindling) program in neurons in a fashion similar to their induction of developmental programs in dividing cells.

Animals↗