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Immunocytochemical studies on differentiation of the thyroid gland in rabbit fetuses and chick embryos.

The morphogenesis of the thyroid gland in rabbit fetuses and chick embryos was investigated using the PAS stain and an immunoperoxidase method with anti-19S-thyroglobulin antiserum. In rabbit fetuses, the reaction for precursor components was firstly detected in the apical portions of follicular cells, arranged in clusters but not yet forming follicles, at 16 days of gestation. Although the first primordial follicles storing colloid droplets were observed on day 18, a drastic increase of follicle formation, the true onset of thyroid function, did not occur until day 22. The colloid in primordial follicles revealed very strong immunoreactivity for 19S-thyroglobulin. The follicles gradually increased in size with age. At 25 days of gestation the cytoplasm of follicular cells was stained densely by slightly diluted 19S-thyroglobulin antiserum, whereas the colloid was stained with highly diluted antiserum; these immunoreactions of follicular cells and colloid were comparable to those of postnatal animals. In chick embryos, significant numbers of primordial follicles were observed throughout the whole thyroid parenchyma at 9 days of incubation. On day 12, the follicles stored more PAS-positive and immunoreactive colloid. At 14 days of incubation follicles with enlarged follicular lumina, having an immunoreactivity similar to mature follicles, became increasingly common.

Animals↗

Potentiating effects of caffeine on the cardiovascular teratogenicity of ephedrine in chick embryos.

Ephedrine was administered to 3-day chick embryos (Hamburger-Hamilton developmental stage 19) together with caffeine at doses where each agent alone caused minimal embryotoxicity. Embryos were examined for malformations on day 14 of incubation. The teratogenicity of ephedrine in the chick cardiovascular system was significantly potentiated by caffeine at a dose as low as 0.5 mumol (0.1 mg/egg; 2 mg/kg egg).

Animals↗

The distribution, ultrastructure, and chemistry of microfilaments in cultured chick embryo fibroblasts.

The distribution, ultrastructure, and chemistry of microfilaments in cultured chick embryo fibroblasts were studied by thin sectioning of flat-embedded untreated and glycerol-extracted cells, histochemical and immunological electron microscopic procedures, and the negative staining of cells cultured on electron microscopic grids. In these cultured cells, the microfilaments are arranged into thick bundles that are disposed longitudinally and in looser arrangements in the fusiform-shaped cells. In the latter case, they are concentrated along the margins of the flattened cell, on the dorsal surface, and particularly at the ends of the cell and its ventral surface, where contact is made with the plastic dish or with other cells. Extracellular filaments, presumably originating from within the cell, are found at these points of contact. The microfilaments are composed in part of an actin-like protein. These filaments are between 70 and 90 A in diameter, they are stable in 50% glycerol, they have an endogenous ATPase (myosin-like?) associated with them, they bind rabbit muscle heavy meromyosin, and they specifically bind antibody directed against isolated actin-like protein. In the cultured chick embryo fibroblasts, the microfilaments are essential for the establishment and maintenance of form, and they are probably critical elements for adhesion and motility. The microfilaments might also serve as stabilizers of intramembranous particle fluidity.

Adenosine Triphosphatases↗

Zinc, vanadate and selenate inhibit the tri-iodothyronine-induced expression of fatty acid synthase and malic enzyme in chick-embryo hepatocytes in culture.

Insulin regulates the expression of genes involved in a variety of metabolic processes. In chick-embryo hepatocytes in culture, insulin amplifies the tri-iodothyronine (T3)-induced enzyme activity, and the level and rate of transcription of mRNA for both fatty acid synthase (FAS) and malic enzyme (ME). Insulin alone, however, has little or no effect on the expression of these genes. In chick-embryo hepatocytes, the mechanism by which insulin regulates the expression of these or other genes is not known. Several recent studies have compared the effects of zinc, vanadate and selenate on insulin-sensitive processes in an attempt to probe the mechanism of insulin action. Because zinc, vanadate and selenate mimic the effects of insulin on several processes, they have been termed insulin-mimetics. We have studied the effect of zinc, vanadate and selenate on the T3-induced expression of both FAS and ME. Like insulin, these agents had little or no effect on the basal activities for FAS and ME in chick-embryo hepatocytes in culture for 48 h. Unlike insulin, however, zinc, vanadate and selenate inhibited the T3-induced activities and mRNA levels of both FAS and ME. Maximal inhibition was achieved at concentrations of 50 microM zinc or vanadate, or 20 microM selenate. Zinc and vanadate also inhibited the T3-induced transcription of the FAS and ME genes. Although the mechanism of this inhibition is unknown, our results indicate that it is not mediated through inhibition of binding of T3 to its nuclear receptor nor through a general toxic effect. Thus zinc, vanadate and selenate are not insulin-mimetics under all conditions, and their effects on other insulin-sensitive processes may be fortuitous and unrelated to actions or components of the insulin signalling pathway.

Animals↗

cDNA cloning and analysis of chick-embryo-liver cytochrome P-450 mRNA induced by porphyrinogenic drugs.

Hepatic microsomal cytochrome P-450 was elevated in 17-day chick embryos by combined administration of the porphyrinogenic drugs 2-allyl-2-isopropylacetamide and 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine. Increased apoprotein levels were the result of de novo protein synthesis; in vitro obtained translation data suggested that cytochrome P-450 mRNA levels were elevated. A 1000-base cDNA sequence for the drug-induced cytochrome P-450 mRNA was isolated from a chick embryo cDNA 'library' and this was used as a specific probe to investigate drug-mediated induction of cytochrome P-450 mRNA. RNA-DNA 'dot' hybridisation studies demonstrated that drug treatment led to a 3-5-fold increase in the level of this mRNA and that the mRNA was predominantly associated with membrane-bound polyribosomes. Treatment of embryos with the drugs individually demonstrated that both of them induced synthesis of the same mRNA. These studies show directly that treatment of chick embryos with 2-allyl-2-isopropylacetamide or 3,5-diethoxycarbonyl-1,4-dihydrocollidine caused increased levels of cytochrome P-450 mRNA and suggest that this involved increased transcription of the gene.

Acetamides↗

Poly(L-proline)-binding proteins from chick embryos are a profilin and a profilactin.

Two poly(L-proline)-binding proteins (PBP-1 and PBP-2) were purified from chick embryos by using a poly(L-proline)-agarose column. PBP-1 was composed of two different polypeptides (molecular masses of 42 kDa and 15 kDa). The molar ratio of the two proteins in the complex was 1:1. The other poly(L-proline)-binding protein, PBP-2, was the 15-kDa protein itself. The 42-kDa protein was confirmed to be an actin from the amino acid composition, by immunochemical evidence and by its ability to self-polymerize. In addition, the 42 + 15-kDa protein complex (PBP-1) inhibited DNase I, just as a monomeric actin did. The amino acid composition of the 15-kDa protein was similar to that of mammalian profilin and it inhibited the salt-induced polymerization of rabbit skeletal muscle actin. Therefore, we conclude that the two poly(L-proline)-binding proteins from the chick embryo are a profilactin and a profilin in chick embryo. The ability of profilactin to bind poly(L-proline) must be due to profilin itself, because the profilin has a greater affinity for poly(L-proline) than does profilactin. Additionally, both the monomeric and filamentous actin from rabbit skeletal muscle have no affinity for poly(L-proline).

Actins↗

Immunoreactive luteinizing hormone (ir-LH) cells in the lung and stomach of chick embryos.

Luteinizing hormone (LH) immunoreactivity was detected in the lung and stomach of chick embryos by the immunoperoxidase staining technique using specific antiserum to chicken LH. Immunoreactive LH (ir-LH) cells first appeared in the primordial cells of the epithelial layer of lung bud and foregut as well as of Rathke s pouch in the 3-day-old embryo, Hamburger and Hamilton stage 21. Ir-LH cells increased in number with advancing age of embryos in the lung, stomach, and pituitary gland. In the lung of 7-day-old embryos, stage 31, the ir-LH cells were distributed in the epithelium of primary, secondary, and tertiary bronchi, and their shapes were pseudostratified columnar, simple columnar, and simple cuboidal, depending on their sites in the intrapulmonary airway. Ir-LH cells were more numerous in the median part than in the lateral part of the lung, and the population in the epithelial layer of entobronchi of the secondary bronchi was 4 times higher than that in ectobronchi and laterobronchi of the secondary bronchi and in the primary bronchi. The immunoreactive products were found, either in the entire cell or in the apical part, facing the lumina of bronchi. In the stomach, ir-LH cells were found in the epithelial layer of gastric glands. No ir-LH cells were observed in interstitial regions, which consisted of mesenchymal cells and blood vessels, in the lung and stomach tissues. With advancing age, ir-LH cells changed their shapes to flat or squamous, coincident with the formation of parabronchi. Other pituitary hormones were not observed immunohistochemically in either the lung or stomach before hatching. Preabsorption of the antiserum against avian LH with the purified chicken LH or the extract of pituitaries from 10-day-old embryos completely destroyed the immunoreactivity to the cells in the lung and the pituitary. A single band of the immunoreaction products, whose molecular weight was around 25 K daltons, was shown by the immunostaining of nitrocellulose membrane transblotted after sodium dodecylsulphate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of the purified pituitary LH, extracts of pituitaries from 10-day-old embryos, and the extracts of lungs from 7-, 10-, and 14-day-old chick embryos. These results demonstrated that ir-LH cells are present in extrapituitary tissues, and may play an important role during the development of chick embryonic lung and stomach.

Animals↗

Adenosine-elicited accumulation of adenosine 3', 5'-cyclic monophosphate in the chick embryo retina.

The cyclic AMP level of 17-day-old chick embryo retina increased from 20 to 331 pmol/mg protein when the tissue was incubated for 20 min in the presence of 4-(3-butoxy-4-methoxybenzyl-2-imidozolinone) (RO 20-1724). The addition of 0.5 mM-3-isobutyl-1-methylxanthine (IBMX) or 0.5 units/ml of adenosine deaminase (EC 3.5.4.4) to the medium reduced the increase of cyclic AMP content from 20 to 100 pmol/mg protein. Dipyridamole did not interfere with the rise of the retinal cyclic AMP level observed with RO 20-1724. The EC50 of 6-amino-2-chloropurine riboside (2-chloroadenosine)-elicited accumulation of cyclic AMP of retinas incubated in the presence of RO 20-1724 plus adenosine deaminase was approximately 1 microM. When retina incubation was carried out in the presence of 0.5 mM-IBMX, the 2-chloroadenosine dose-response curve was shifted to the right two orders of magnitude. Maximal stimulation of the cyclic AMP level of 17-day-old chick embryo retina incubated in the presence of 0.5 mM-IBMX was observed at 1 mM-adenosine concentration. This effect was not blocked by dopamine antagonists. Guanosine and adenine did not affect the retinal cyclic AMP level. AMP and ATP had a slight stimulatory effect. Adenosine response of embryonic retina increased sharply from the 14th to the 17th embryonic day. A similar, but not identical adenosine effect was observed in cultured retina cells.

1-Methyl-3-isobutylxanthine↗

Increased turnover of vaccinia virus-specific immediate early RNAs in interferon-treated chick embryo fibroblasts.

The synthesis and steady state level of immediate early vaccinia virus-specific RNAs in interferon-treated chick embryo fibroblasts were determined by blot hybridization analysis using the cloned restriction endonuclease fragment pEJ 18 containing the gene of vaccinia virus WR-specific DNA polymerase as a probe. Even though early vaccinia virus WR RNA was still synthesized, accumulation of immediate early viral RNAs was strongly inhibited. Accumulation of beta-actin RNA was not affected. This indicated an enhanced degradation of vaccinia virus WR-specific early RNAs in interferon-treated chick embryo fibroblasts. This notion was supported by Northern blot analysis which revealed degradation of residual RNA of vaccinia virus WR-specific DNA polymerase. In contrast to interferon-treated mouse L 929 cells, ribosomal RNA is not degraded in interferon-treated vaccinia WR-infected chick embryo fibroblasts.

Animals↗

Aggrecan core protein is expressed in membranous bone of the chick embryo. Molecular and biomechanical studies of normal and nanomelia embryos.

The recessive mutation nanomelia blocks the synthesis of a large aggregating proteoglycan (aggrecan) by avian embryo chondrocytes. Lack of aggrecan is associated with short stature, multiple morphological defects in cartilage, and embryo lethality. Bony defects have also been described, but were assumed to be a secondary consequence of the cartilage defect. However, two lines of evidence presented in this paper indicate that the aggrecan deficiency directly affects intramembranous bone. First, the morphology (i.e. projected area and shape) of certain membranous bones of nanomelia embryos was abnormal. Second, membranous bone from nanomelia embryos proved to be significantly stiffer in biomechanical tests that measured functional properties of the extracellular matrix. These findings were unexpected because intramembranous bones normally develop from mesenchyme and not from a cartilage intermediate, and they prompted a search for evidence of aggrecan expression in the bone of normal chick embryos. We report that: 1) aggrecan mRNA was identified by PCR analysis of total RNA isolated from day-13 chick embryo calvarium, 2) the PCR method successfully amplified aggrecan mRNA from primary chick embryo osteoblasts in culture, 3) in situ hybridization of membranous bone tissue sections demonstrated aggrecan expression by chick embryo osteoblasts in vivo, and 4) the aggrecan message was identified in Northern blots of calvarial mRNA probed at high stringency. The results of the molecular and biomechanical studies provide evidence that aggrecan is indeed expressed in membranous bone as well as cartilage. Altogether, these results suggest that aggrecan may contribute to the functional properties and the normal growth and development of avian membranous bone.

Aggrecans↗

Isolation of 75Se binding protein from hepatic tissues of chick embryos.

Distribution study using 75Se shows that maximum accumulation was in liver tissues after 24h of 75Se administration. Induction of selenium binding protein (Se-P) in hepatic tissues of chick embryo was observed. Chick embryo hepatic Se-P was isolated after 24h of 75Se treatment using Sephadex G-75 column chromatography. Fractions of induced protein shows the presence of maximum concentration of 75Se. This induced protein was found to have an approximate molecular weight of 56 KD on molecular sieve. It also showed an absorbance maxima at 254 nm, which indicates the presence of high concentrations of sulphydryl groups.

Animals↗

Cell surface-associated extracellular distribution of a neural proteoglycan, 6B4 proteoglycan/phosphacan, in the olfactory epithelium, olfactory nerve, and cells migrating along the olfactory nerve in chick embryos.

The immunocytochemical and immuno-electron microscopic distribution of a neural proteoglycan (PG) was investigated with a monoclonal antibody, MAb 6B4, in the olfactory epithelium, the olfactory nerve, and the cells originating the epithelium and migrating along the olfactory nerve toward the forebrain in chick embryos. The PG recognized by MAb 6B4, that is 6B4 PG, in the brain of early postnatal rats, is identical to phosphacan. In chick embryos, immunoreactivity to 6B4 PG appeared on embryonic day (ED) 3-3.5 in a thin layer beneath the olfactory epithelium. It disappeared immediately, then becoming apparent in the bundles of the olfactory nerve. The immunoreactivity in the nerve bundles gradually increased during ED 5-11. On the other hand, cell surface-associated extracellular localization of the immunoreactivity was seen in the olfactory epithelium on ED 6 and afterwards. Immunofluorescent double-labeling of 6B4 PG and gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) revealed that the cell bodies of both GnRH-containing cells and other cells migrating along the olfactory nerve were surrounded by a rim immunoreactive to the PG. Under an electron microscope, the surfaces of the cell bodies and of the neurites in the nerve bundles were surrounded by deposits immunoreactive to 6B4 PG. These results indicate that 6B4 PG in chick embryos is one type of cell surface-associated extracellular matrix molecule, and that 6B4 PG covered the surfaces of migrating cells and of elongating olfactory nerve. The cell surface-associated extracellular localization of 6B4 PG found in the nasal region, taken together with the binding properties of this PG with cell adhesion molecules shown in rat brains, suggested that 6B4 PG played a role in guiding the migration of cells along the olfactory nerve in chick embryos.

Animals↗

Virulence of Escherichia coli strains for chick embryos.

Powell, Calvin J., Jr. (Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, D.C.), and Richard A. Finkelstein. Virulence of Escherichia coli strains for chick embryos. J. Bacteriol. 91:1410-1417. 1966.-Fifty-three strains of Escherichia coli, freshly isolated from patients at Children's Hospital, Washington, D.C., were tested for virulence for 13-day chick embryos by allantoic inoculation of serial dilutions of viable cell suspensions. No clear-cut relationship could be demonstrated between inoculum size and response (death of the embryos) which would permit comparisons of virulence based on ld(50) determinations. However, the strains were classified into three groups according to the proportion of embryos which succumbed, regardless of inoculum size. There was no association between enteropathogenicity and embryo virulence, although there was high correlation between hemagglutinative activity for chicken erythrocytes and virulence of strains for embryos. Differences in virulence were not related to ability to multiply in the allantoic cavity nor did bacteremia appear to be essential for death of the embryos. Serial passage in eggs failed to alter virulence. Both the route of inoculation and the age of the embryos had a marked effect on the outcome of challenge with strains of varying virulence. The embryos were most susceptible to challenge by the intravenous route. The susceptibility of younger embryos decreased with increasing embryonic maturity, although some reversal of this trend was noted with 19-day embryos. The toxicity of culture filtrates and filtrates of allantoic fluid from infected embryos seemed to be related to strain virulence, suggesting that elaboration and availability of toxic factors may have an important bearing on the lethality of E. coli strains for chick embryos.

Animals↗

Embryolethality and induction of 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase in chick embryos by polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons having Ah receptor affinity.

The lethality and 7-ethoxyresorufin O-deethylase (EROD)-inducing potency of some individual polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and coplanar polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in chick embryos were measured in order to compare the mechanisms of action of these compounds. In previous studies it was found that coplanar PCBs and certain PAHs have a high embryolethality in the chicken and that they induce embryonic EROD activity. Although the most potent PAHs were almost as embryolethal as the PCBs when injected into hens' eggs 72 h prior to measurement, they were considerably less potent EROD inducers. In the present study, three coplanar PCBs (3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (TCB), 3,3',4,4',5-pentachlorobiphenyl (PeCB) and 3,3',4,4',5,5'-hexachlorobiphenyl (HCB)) and four of the most toxic PAHs (benzo[a]anthracene (BaA), benzo[k]fluoranthene (BkF), indeno[1,2,3-cd]pyrene (IP) and dibenzo[a, h]-anthracene (DBahA] were administered to chick embryos in different ways, including co-administration. Additive embryolethality was found when BkF and PeCB were co-administered as well as when BaA and DBahA were given simultaneously. The PAHs were more effective as EROD inducers when injected on day 9 (24 h prior to measurement) than when injected on day 7 (72 h prior to measurement). The opposite was found for PeCB and HCB, whereas no difference in potency was noted when comparing TCB injected 24 and 72 h before EROD determination. These substance-related differences were probably due, at least partly, to differences in biotransformation rates. EROD activities found after treatment with high doses of BkF, IP, or DBahA on day 9 were similar to those measured after treatment with PeCB in doses high enough to give maximal induction. Co-administration of high doses of BkF and PeCB did not further increase the activity, indicating that the PAHs and coplanar PCBs induce EROD to a common maximal value. To decrease the influence of metabolization of the PAHs on their EROD-inducing potency, EROD was determined early in development (day 8) and soon after treatment (24 h) in one experiment. In that experiment, the PAHs proved to be only a few times less potent EROD inducers in relation to their embryolethalities compared with the PCBs. The results of the present study, a previously observed similarity in pathology between chick embryos treated with PAHs and embryos treated with coplanar PCBs, and the fact that the most toxic PAHs also are the most avid Ah receptor binders suggest that the coplanar PCBs and the PAHs largely exert their toxicity in chick embryos via an Ah receptor-mediated mechanism. The differences between the compounds in their EROD-inducing potency/embryolethality ratios could probably be explained by their different rates of biotransformation.

Animals↗

Polyamines, NO and cGMP mediate stimulation of DNA synthesis by tumor necrosis factor and lipopolysaccharide in chick embryo cardiomyocytes.

OBJECTIVE: We have recently shown that tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) and lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulate DNA synthesis in chick embryo cardiomyocytes (CMs). The aim of the present research was to investigate the pathways involved in this mitogenic response. METHODS: CMs were isolated from 10-day-old chick embryos and grown to confluence. After 20 h of serum starvation the cells were treated with TNFalpha and LPS, and/or specific agonists and antagonists to manipulate the levels of polyamines, NO, cGMP and their biosynthetic enzymes ornithine decarboxylase (ODC), nitric oxide synthase (NOS) and soluble guanylate cyclase (sGC). ODC, NOS, sGC activities and cGMP contents were determined by radiochemical procedures. DNA synthesis was determined by incorporation of [3H]-thymidine. RESULTS: Treatment of CMs with TNFalpha and LPS increased cell number and [3H]-thymidine incorporation. Addition of TNFalpha and LPS provoked an induction of ODC, with consequent polyamine accumulation, and a more delayed enhancement of NOS activity, which appeared to be independent of the activation of the ODC-polyamine system. TNFalpha and LPS treatment also enhanced cGMP level in CMs and both polyamine and NO biosyntheses appeared to be required. Experiments with specific inhibitors of ODC and NOS, as well as with inhibitors of sGC and cGMP-dependent protein kinase (PKG), showed that polyamine-, NO- and cGMP-dependent pathways are required for the mitogenic action of TNFalpha and LPS. Moreover, addition of exogenous polyamines to untreated cells raised the cGMP level in a NO-dependent fashion, and enhanced [3H]-thymidine incorporation. The latter effect was inhibited by sGC or PKG inhibitors. Treatment of quiescent cells with NO donors, 8-bromo-cGMP or YC-1, an sGC activator, also promoted DNA synthesis. Furthermore, putrescine and NO donor can additively activate sGC in cell-free extracts. CONCLUSION: TNFalpha and LPS stimulate DNA synthesis in chick embryo CMs and this effect is mediated by polyamines, NO and intracellular cGMP.

Alkaloids↗