Generation and characterization of Tbx1-AmCyan1 transgenic reporter mouse line that selectively labels developing thymus primordium.

Thymus development is a complicated process that includes highly dynamic morphological changes and reciprocal tissue interactions between endoderm-derived epithelial cells of the anterior foregut and neural crest-derived mesenchymal cells. We generated and characterized a Tbx1-AmCyan1 reporter transgenic mouse to visualize thymus precursor cells during early embryonic development. In transgenic embryos, AmCyan1 fluorescence was specifically detected in the endoderm of the developing 3rd and 4th pharyngeal pouches and later in thymus epithelium until E14.5. Cells expressing AmCyan1 that were isolated based on AmCyan1 fluorescence expressed endodermal, thymic, and parathyroid markers, but they did not express neural crest or endothelial markers; these findings indicated that this transgenic mouse strain could be used to collect thymic or parathyroid precursor cells or both. We also showed that in nude mice, which exhibit defects in thymus development, the thymus precursors were clearly labeled with AmCyan1. In summary, these AmCyan1-fluorescent transgenic mice are useful for investigating early thymus development.

Liver tumor formation by a mutant retinoblastoma protein in the transgenic mice is caused by an upregulation of c-Myc target genes.

The retinoblastoma (Rb) tumor suppressor encodes a nuclear phosphoprotein that regulates cellular proliferation, apoptosis and differentiation. In order to adapt itself to these biological functions, Rb is subjected to modification cycle, phosphorylation and dephosphorylation. To directly determine the effect of phosphorylation-resistant Rb on liver development and function, we generated transgenic mice expressing phosphorylation-resistant human mutant Rb (mt-Rb) under the control of the rat hepatocyte nuclear factor-1 gene promoter/enhancer. Expression of mt-Rb in the liver resulted in macroscopic neoplastic nodules (adenomas) with ∼50% incidence within 15 months old. Interestingly, quantitative reverse transcriptase-PCR analysis showed that c-Myc was up-regulated in the liver of mt-Rb transgenic mice irrespective of having tumor tissues or no tumor. In tumor tissues, several c-Myc target genes, Foxm1, c-Jun, c-Fos, Bmi1 and Skp2, were also up-regulated dramatically. We determined whether mt-Rb activated the Myc promoter in the HTP9 cells and demonstrated that mt-Rb acted as an inhibitor of wild-type Rb-induced repression on the Myc promoter. Our results suggest that continued upregulation of c-Myc target genes promotes the liver tumor formation after about 1 year of age.

Irxl1 mutant mice show reduced tendon differentiation and no patterning defects in musculoskeletal system development.

Irxl1 (Iroquois-related homeobox like-1) is a newly identified three amino-acid loop extension (TALE) homeobox gene, which is expressed in various mesoderm-derived tissues, particularly in the progenitors of the musculoskeletal system. To analyze the roles of Irxl1 during embryonic development, we generated mice carrying a null allele of Irxl1. Mice homozygous for the targeted allele were viable, fertile, and showed reduced tendon differentiation. Skeletal morphology and skeletal muscle weight in Irxl1-knockout mice appeared normal. Expression patterns of several marker genes for cartilage, tendon, and muscle progenitors in homozygous mutant embryos were unchanged. These results suggest that Irxl1 is required for the tendon differentiation but dispensable for the patterning of the musculoskeletal system in development.

A unique expression pattern of Tbx10 in the hindbrain as revealed by Tbx10(LacZ) allele.

To study the expression/function of Tbx10, a T-box gene, Tbx10(LacZ/+) mice were established by replacing the T-box coding region with a LacZ gene. X-gal staining showed that LacZ(+) cells were localized to two-cell populations in rhombomere 4 and rhombomere 6. No significant differences in the locations of LacZ(+) cells were found between Tbx10(LacZ/+) and Tbx10(LacZ/LacZ) mice, and the Tbx10(LacZ/LacZ) mice were viable and fertile. We found that the LacZ(+) cells are present in both embryonic and adult mice. Histological studies suggest that the rhombomere 4-derived LacZ(+) cells are a subpopulation of the ventral interneurons in the pons.

The medaka FoxP2, a homologue of human language gene FOXP2, has a diverged structure and function.

Forkhead box (Fox) genes are involved in organogenesis and cell differentiation. A mutation of FOXP2 was discovered in patients with severe defects in speech and language. The medaka FoxP2 was cloned in order to clarify the molecular evolution and difference in the protein structure and function by comparing human/mouse and medaka genes. The result showed that medaka FoxP2 had a 73.7% homology to the human and mouse counterparts, and its zinc finger, leucine zipper and forkhead domain structures were conserved. However, medaka FoxP2 lacked a long polyglutamine repeat and had two insertions of unique amino acid sequences. FoxP2 expression was found in the epiphysis and retina, in addition to the midbrain and cerebellum. The transcriptional assay revealed that medaka FoxP2 showed a very weak repressive activity to the CC10 promoter while mouse Foxp2 exhibited a strong repressive activity. Mutational analyses of medaka FoxP2 showed that the three amino acids of forkhead domain were responsible for the weak repressive activity. These results suggest that medaka FoxP2 may play a different function in the development of the medaka fish.

Roles of forkhead transcription factor Foxc2 (MFH-1) and endothelin receptor A in cardiovascular morphogenesis.

OBJECTIVE: Foxc2/MFH-1 is a member of the forkhead family of transcription factors and Foxc2-deficient mice exhibit aortic arch anomalies (type B interruption of the aortic arch). Endothelin receptor type-A (ETA) is one of the two known endothelin receptors that belong to the G-protein-coupled receptor family. ETA-deficient mice show defects in the great arteries, primarily type B interruption of the aortic arch. Based on similar phenotypes in the cardiovascular system of Foxc2- and ETA-deficient mice, we investigated whether Foxc2 and ETA have a close relationship in aortic arch patterning. METHODS: The Foxc2 and ETA homozygotes were obtained by crossing the Foxc2 and ETA heterozygotes, respectively. The double Foxc2/ETA homozygotes were obtained by crossing the double Foxc2/ETA heterozygotes. RESULTS: We investigated the expression of ETA in Foxc2-null mice and the expression of Foxc2 in ETA-null mice and found that the absence of either Foxc2 or ETA had no effect on the expression of the other. Next, we analyzed mice lacking both Foxc2 and ETA to examine the relationship between Foxc2 and ETA on aortic arch patterning in vivo. We found that the majority of Foxc2/ETA double-mutant embryos died around 11.5 dpc and that all surviving mice had persistent truncus arteriosus. CONCLUSIONS: The results suggest that Foxc2- and ETA-expressing cells additively form the aorticopulmonary septum.

Darkened Xenopus tadpoles appeared with neurochemical agents.

Skin darkened tadpoles sometimes appear spontaneously. Darkened was artificially induced in Xenopus larvae by yohimbine or chlorpromazine. These phenomena look like that are seen at pinealectomized or hypothalamus separated Xenopus larva. In this experiment, such a morphological color changed Xenopus larva is suggested by cause of inhibition of alpha2-adrenargic receptor or dopamine receptor from gastrula stages.

Screening of natural medicines that efficiently activate neurite outgrowth in PC12 cells in C2C12-cultured medium.

We have studied the effects of natural medicines on neurite outgrowth in PC12D cells in a cultured medium of C2C12 cells. Derived from mouse myoblasts, the C2C12 cells secrete neurotrophic factors including nerve growth factor (NGF), brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and neurotrophin-3 (NT-3). The secretion of these neurotrophins from C2C12 cells stimulate neurite outgrowth in PC12D cells. We have screened a total of 120 samples and found five natural medicines: Trichosanthes Root, Asiasarum Root, Lycium Bark, Sinomenium Stem, and Dictamni radicis Cortex, that enhance the activity of C2C12-cultured medium to stimulate neurite outgrowth in PC12D cells. These natural medicines promoted not only neurite outgrowth but also stabilized the neurite formation in PC12D cells for several days. RT-PCR analysis showed that NGF was significantly increased with Trichosanthes and Lycium Bark. However, BDNF was slightly decreased with Lycium Bark, Sinomenium Stem, and Dictamni radicis Cortex. NT-3 was increased slightly by all of these natural medicines except Sinomenium Stem. All these five natural medicines significantly increased the number and length of neurites in PC12D cells in co-culture with C2C12 cells.

Expression of human factors CD81, claudin-1, scavenger receptor, and occludin in mouse hepatocytes does not confer susceptibility to HCV entry.

No suitable mouse model is available for studying chronic liver disease caused by hepatitis C virus (HCV). CD81, claudin-1, scavenger receptor class B type I, and occludin were recently reported to be the important factors in HCV entry into hepatocytes. We made transgenic mice (Alb-CCSO) expressing the four human proteins and examined whether HCV from a patient serum or HCV pseudoparticles (HCVpp) were capable of infecting them. HCV was not detected in the mouse serum after injecting the mice with HCV from a patient serum. We also found no indications of HCVpp entry into primary hepatocytes from Alb-CCSO mice. In addition, HCV-infectible Hep3B cells were fused with HCV-resistant primary mouse hepatocytes and the fused cells showed 35-fold lower infectivity compared to wild-type Hep3B cells, indicating that primary mouse hepatocytes have the inhibitory factor(s) in HCVpp entry. Our results suggest that the expression of the human factors does not confer susceptibility to HCV entry into the liver.

The mouse forkhead gene Foxp2 modulates expression of the lung genes.

AIMS: Foxp2 is expressed in the lung during mouse development. A monoclonal anti-mouse Foxp2 antibody was created to determine the expression pattern in the developing lung. Next, transcriptional control of two lung genes, CC10 and surfactant protein C (SPC) genes, by Foxp2 was investigated in H441 and A549 cells. Thirdly, expression patterns of Foxp2 and Foxf2 were compared in the developing lung. Finally, Foxp2 expression was determined in the Foxf2-null mice. MAIN METHODS: Immunohistochemical staining and in situ hybridization were applied to the sections of lungs in the developing embryos. KEY FINDINGS: Monoclonal anti-Foxp2 antibody demonstrated that Foxp2 was expressed in the bronchial epithelium at E10.5 and its expression became restricted to the distal portion of the elongating bronchiolar epithelium and finally to type II alveolar epithelial cells around birth and in the adult. Foxp2 activated the SPC gene promoter in the presence of Nkx2.1 in A549 cells while it repressed the CC10 gene promoter in H441 cells. Next, the expression domains of the Foxp2 and Foxf2 were found to be exclusive in the lung. Finally, the expression of Foxp2 did not change in the lung of Foxf2-null mice. SIGNIFICANCE: The Foxp2 protein is expressed in the growing distal edge of airway epithelium. When the bronchiolus elongates, Foxp2 suppresses CC10 expression. When the lung alveolus is formed, Foxp2 modulates the Nkx2.1-mediated SPC expression in type II alveolar cells. Foxp2 and Foxf2 independently play distinct roles in the alveoli and the mesenchyme, respectively.

Neurogenesin-1 differentially inhibits the osteoblastic differentiation by bone morphogenetic proteins in C2C12 cells.

Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) antagonists regulate the pleiotropic actions of BMPs by binding to BMPs. We previously isolated the Neurogenesin-1 (Ng1) gene and found that Ng1 protein induces neuronal differentiation in the brain. In this study, we found that Ng1 was expressed in the primordial cells of the skeleton and investigated whether Ng1 protein inhibited the BMP action to induce osteoblastic differentiation in C2C12 myoblasts. Interestingly, Ng1 protein inhibited the BMP7-induced alkaline phosphatase activity while it did not inhibit the BMP2-induced activity. All data suggest that Ng1 protein plays an important role in the embryonic bone formation by differentially regulating BMPs.

Roles of the Foxj1 and Inv genes in the left-right determination of internal organs in mice.

In Foxj1 knockout mice, half show situs solitus while the other half show situs inversus, which means a random determination of the left-right axis. In contrast, the inv mutant mice show a mirror-image configuration of the internal organs, which means a reversal of the left-right axis. Although these two mutant mice have primary cilia on the nodal cells, their phenotypes are different in laterality determination. We thus made Foxj1/inv double mutant mice and analyzed their phenotype. We found the phenotypes of Foxj1/inv double mutant mice to be more similar to those of the Foxj1 mutant mice than those of the inv mutant mice. We also found right pulmonary isomerism to be a major phenotype of the Foxj1 mutant mice and the Foxj1/inv double mutant mice, which is likely due to the absence of the Pitx2 expression at both lateral plate mesoderms. These results indicate that a random signal of laterality (Foxj1) is dominant over the reversal signal of laterality (Inv).

EGF rapidly translocates tight junction proteins from the cytoplasm to the cell-cell contact via protein kinase C activation in TMK-1 gastric cancer cells.

Tight junctions are commonly disrupted in cancer cells, including gastric cancer. Various growth factors have been reported to affect the localization of tight junction-associated proteins such as ZO-1 and occludin. We investigated the effect of epidermal growth factor (EGF), a growth factor that is often overexpressed in gastric cancer, and fetal bovine serum (FBS) on the localization of ZO-1 and occludin in a gastric cancer cell line. In the poorly differentiated gastric cancer cell line TMK-1, immunohistochemistry demonstrated that ZO-1 and occludin were predominantly localized to the cytoplasm, although there was some weak expression at the cell-cell contact. When the medium was replaced with fresh medium containing 10% FBS, ZO-1 and occludin were rapidly translocated from the cytosol to the cell-cell contact. A similar effect was seen in EGF exposure. These effects induced by FBS or EGF were attenuated in the presence of protein kinase C (PKC) inhibitors calphostin C and bisindolylmaleimide I, but not another PKC inhibitor Gö6976, PD98059 (MAPK inhibitor), LY294002 (PI3 kinase inhibitor) or KT5720 (protein kinase A inhibitor). These results suggest that serum-derived factors, including EGF, can rapidly alter the localization of ZO-1 and occludin via a protein kinase C signaling pathway in TMK-1 gastric cancer cells.

Forkhead transcription factor Foxf2 (LUN)-deficient mice exhibit abnormal development of secondary palate.

The forkhead genes encode a transcription factor involved in embryogenesis and pattern formation in multicellular organisms. They are mammalian transcriptional regulators that bind DNA as a monomer through their forkhead domain. The Foxf2 (LUN) mRNA is expressed in the mesenchyme directly adjacent to the ectoderm-derived epithelium in the developing tongue and in the mesenchyme adjacent to the endoderm-derived epithelium in the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, lungs, and genitalia. To investigate the developmental role of the Foxf2 gene during embryogenesis, we disrupted the Foxf2 gene and showed that these mutant mice died shortly after birth. Mice lacking the Foxf2 gene were found to develop cleft palate and an abnormal tongue. In addition, we found that the GI tract and the lungs of Foxf2-deficient newborn mice were normal in both morphology and function. These results suggest that the Foxf2 gene plays key roles in palatogenesis by reshaping the growing tongue.

Darkened Xenopus tadpoles appeared with neurochemical agents.

Skin darkened tadpoles sometimes appear spontaneously. Darkened was artificially induced in Xenopus larvae by yohimbine or chlorpromazine. These phenomena look like that are seen at pinealectomized or hypothalamus separated Xenopus larva. In this experiment, such a morphological color changed Xenopus larva is suggested by cause of inhibition of alpha2-adrenargic receptor or dopamine receptor from gastrula stages.