The development of heart is an accurate, coordinated process including primordial cardiac cell differentiation, migration, and multi-cell combination. This process is accompanied by cell apoptosis, and by a series of gene regulation. If gene gets out of regulation, abnormal cell apoptosis will occur, which will lead to abnormal development of embryonic heart, or even malformation. By studying gene expression on apoptosis, we investigated the relationship between apoptosis and embryonic heart development, clarified the relevant mechanism for the clinical diagnosis and treatment of heart diseases.
Apoptosis ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Heart ; embryology ; Humans

Tooth number abnormality is one of the most common dental developmental diseases, which includes both tooth agenesis and supernumerary teeth. Tooth development is regulated by numerous developmental signals, such as the well-known Wnt, BMP, FGF, Shh and Eda pathways, which mediate the ongoing complex interactions between epithelium and mesenchyme. Abnormal expression of these crutial signalling during this process may eventually lead to the development of anomalies in tooth number; however, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. In this review, we summarized the major process of tooth development, the latest progress of mechanism studies and newly reported clinical investigations of tooth number abnormality. In addition, potential treatment approaches for tooth number abnormality based on developmental biology are also discussed. This review not only provides a reference for the diagnosis and treatment of tooth number abnormality in clinical practice but also facilitates the translation of basic research to the clinical application.
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Odontogenesis ; Signal Transduction ; Tooth/metabolism* ; Humans

The KA1 kainate receptor (KAR) subunit in the substantia gelatinosa (SG) of the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) has been implicated in the processing of nociceptive information from the orofacial region. This study compared the expression of the KA1 KAR subunit in the SG of the Vc in juvenile, prepubescent and adult mice. RT-PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry analyses were used to examine the expression level in SG area. The expression levels of the KA1 KAR subunit mRNA and protein were higher in juvenile mice than in prepubescent or adult mice. Quantitative data revealed that the KA1 KAR subunit mRNA and protein were expressed at levels approximately two and three times higher, respectively, in juvenile mice than in adult mice. A similar expression pattern of the KA1 KAR subunit was observed in an immunohistochemical study that showed higher expression in the juvenile (59%) than those of adult (35%) mice. These results show that the KA1 KAR subunits are expressed in the SG of the Vc in mice and that the expression level of the KA1 KAR subunit decreases gradually with postnatal development. These findings suggest that age-dependent KA1 KAR subunit expression can be a potential mechanism of age-dependent pain perception.
Age Factors ; Animals ; Gene Expression Profiling ; *Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Mice ; Receptors, Kainic Acid/*metabolism ; Substantia Gelatinosa/*metabolism

BACKGROUNDAccumulating evidence indicates that both innate and adaptive mechanisms are responsible for the postnatal development of the mammalian visual cortex. Most of the studies, including gene expression analysis, were performed on the visual cortex during the critical period; few efforts were made to elucidate the molecular changes in the visual cortex during much earlier postnatal stages. The current study aimed to gain a general insight into the molecular mechanisms in the developmental process of the rat visual cortex using microarray to display the gene expression profiles of the visual cortex on postnatal days.

METHODSAll age-matched Sprague-Dawley rats in various groups including postnatal day 0 (P0, n = 20), day 10 (P10, n = 15), day 20 (P20, n = 15) and day 45 (P45, n = 10) were sacrificed respectively. Fresh visual cortex from the binocular area (Area 17) was dissected for extraction of total RNA for microarray analyses. Taking advantage of annotation information from the gene ontology and pathway database, the gene expression profiles were systematically and globally analyzed.

RESULTSOf the 31 042 gene sequences represented on the rat expression microarray, more than 4000 of the transcripts significantly altered at days 45, 20 or 10 compared to day 0. The most obvious alteration of gene expression occurred in the first ten days of the postnatal period and the genomic activities of the visual cortex maintained a high level from birth to day 45. Compared to the gene expression at birth, there were 2630 changed transcripts that shared in three postnatal periods. The up-regulated genes in most signaling pathways were more than those of the down-regulated genes.

CONCLUSIONSAnalyzing gene expression patterns, we provide a detailed insight into the molecular organization of the developing visual cortex in the earlier postnatal rat. The most obvious alteration of gene expression in visual cortex occurred in the first ten days. Our data were a basis to identify new relevant candidate genes that control visual cortex development.

Animals ; Gene Expression Profiling ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; genetics ; physiology ; Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis ; Rats ; Visual Cortex ; metabolism

The first three disorders discussed are abnormalities of bone: too little bone in cleidocranial dysplasia caused by mutations in RUNX2; too much bone in fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva with overexpression of BMP4; and abnormal bone in McCune-Albright syndrome and fibrous dysplasia caused by mutations in GNAS1. Disorders of the sonic hedgehog signaling network are discussed next, including holoprosencephaly and the nevoid basal cell carcinoma syndrome, the former being caused by sonic hedgehog (SHH) mutations and the latter being caused by patched mutations (PTCH).
Basal Cell Nevus Syndrome ; genetics ; Craniofacial Abnormalities ; genetics ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Holoprosencephaly ; genetics ; Humans ; Mutation

The epididymis is a single and highly convoluted tubule system in mammals. The epithelium is the major compartment for epididymal function. Proteins synthesized and secreted by epididymal epithelium provide a special and ever-changing luminal fluid environment for sperm as they progress through the epididymis, which makes sperm achieve motility and ultimately results in sperm functional maturation. Specialized genes expressed in the epididymis have regional-specific characteristics. They are regulated by androgen and/or testicular factors and present spatial and tempel-specialized expression pattern in postnatal development, all these hint that they play important and unique roles in epididymis.
Animals ; Epididymal Secretory Proteins ; genetics ; Epididymis ; physiology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Male ; Mammals ; Sperm Maturation ; genetics

OBJECTIVETo investigate the expression characteristics of the gene of coiled-coil domain-containing protein 70 (Ccdc70) in the mouse testis and its potential role in spermatogenesis.

METHODSUsing expression profile microarray, we screened the mouse testis-specific gene Ccdc70, studied its expression characteristics in the mouse testis by RT-PCR, real-time PCR, Western blot and immunohistochemistry, followed by bioinformatic analysis of the Ccdc70 protein.

RESULTSThe Ccdc70 gene was expressed highly in the testis but lowly in the epididymis of the mice. The Ccdc70 protein was expressed mainly in the spermatocytes and round spermatids of the testis and in the epithelial cells of the epididymis. Bioinformatic analysis showed a structural domain in the Ccdc70 protein, which was highly conserved in mammalian evolution.

CONCLUSIONThe Ccdc70 gene is highly expressed in the mouse testis and mainly in the spermatocytes, round spermatids, and epididymal epithelial cells, which indicates that it is involved in the regulation of spermatogenesis and epididymal sperm maturation.

Animals ; Computational Biology ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Male ; Mice ; Proteins ; genetics ; Spermatogenesis ; genetics ; Testis ; metabolism

OBJECTIVETo screen and identify zebrafish mutants with erythropoiesis defects by N-ethyl-N-nitrosourea (ENU) mutagenesis and large-scale forward genetic screening using beta e 1 as the marker.

METHODSThe chemical mutagen ENU was used to treat healthy wild-type male fish (AB strain, F0). The surviving ENU-treated fish were mated with wild-type female fish to generate F1, and further F2 family was generated by F1 family intercross. The adult F2 fish were intercrossed within each F2 family and the resulting F3 embryos from each crossing were subjected to whole mount in situ hybridization (WISH) with the beta e 1 probe. Mutagenesis was performed by treating the male zebrafish with ENU to induce mutations in pre-meiotic germ cells to generate the founders, which were outcrossed to obtained the F1 fish. The F1 fish from different founders were mated to generate the F2 families. F3 embryos from the sibling cross in the F2 family were examined by whole mount in situ hybridization using beta e 1-globin probe. The putative mutants were then characterized with different hematopoiesis markers.

RESULTS AND CONCLUSIONWe identified 4 beta e 1-deficient mutants with erythropoiesis defects, including two with specific erythiod lineage defects and two with concurrent lymphopoiesis defects.

Animals ; Erythropoiesis ; genetics ; Ethylnitrosourea ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Male ; Mutagenesis, Insertional ; Mutation ; Zebrafish ; genetics

With the in-depth exploration of all stages in early-stage embryos, in particular zygotic genome activation and first cell lineage differentiation, researchers have found that early embryonic epigenetics follows a strict pattern of temporal and spatial modification. Previous studies have determined the inhibitory effect of H3K9me3 and H3K27me3 on genomic expression, and found that they are involved in many core biological events in the genome such as chromatin reprogramming, genomic imprinting, maintenance of embryonic stem cell pluripotency and somatic cell nuclear transfer, though the detailed molecular mechanism has remained elusive. From the point of developmental biology and epigenetics, this article has expounded the research progress on the methylation of H3K9 and H3K27 histones in early-stage embryos, which may provide a clue for the complex mechanism of embryonic development and improvement of culture method for embryos in vitro.
Chromatin ; Embryonic Development ; Epigenesis, Genetic ; Female ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Histones/metabolism* ; Humans ; Methylation ; Pregnancy

OBJECTIVE: To study the effect of dhfr gene overexpression on ethanol-induced abnormal cardiac and vascular development in zebrafish embryos and underlying mechanisms. METHODS: dhfr mRNA was transcribed in vitro and microinjected into zebrafish fertilized eggs to induce the overexpression of dhfr gene, and the efficiency of overexpression was verified. Wild-type zebrafish were divided into a control group, an ethanol group, and an ethanol+dhfr overexpression group (microinjection of 6 nL dhfr mRNA). The embryonic development was observed for each group. The transgenic zebrafish Tg (cmlc2:mcherry) with heart-specific red fluorescence was used to observe atrial and ventricular development. Fluorescence microscopy was performed to observe the development of cardiac outflow tract and blood vessels. Heart rate and ventricular shortening fraction were used to assess cardiac function. Gene probes were constructed, and embryo in situ hybridization and real-time PCR were used to measure the expression of nkx2.5, tbx1, and flk-1 in the embryo. RESULTS: Compared with the ethanol group, the ethanol+dhfr overexpression group had a significant reduction in the percentage of abnormal embryonic development and a significant increase in the percentage of embryonic survival (P<0.05), with significant improvements in the abnormalities of the atrium, ventricle, outflow tract, and blood vessels and cardiac function. Compared with the control group, the ethanol group had significant reductions in the expression of nkx2.5, tbx1, and flk-1 (P<0.05), and compared with the ethanol group, the ethanol+dhfr overexpression group had significant increases in the expression of nkx2.5, tbx1, and flk-1 (P<0.05), which were still lower than their expression in the control group. CONCLUSIONS The overexpression of the dhfr gene can partially improve the abnormal development of embryonic heart and blood vessels induced by ethanol, possibly by upregulating the decreased expression of nkx2.5, tbx1, and flk-1 caused by ethanol.
Animals ; Ethanol ; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental ; Heart ; Heart Ventricles ; Zebrafish ; Zebrafish Proteins