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Stem Cell Research & Therapy Aug 2023Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used in cell therapy, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine because of their self-renewal, pluripotency, and... (Review)
Review
Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are widely used in cell therapy, tissue engineering, and regenerative medicine because of their self-renewal, pluripotency, and immunomodulatory properties. The microenvironment in which MSCs are located significantly affects their physiological functions. The microenvironment directly or indirectly affects cell behavior through biophysical, biochemical, or other means. Among them, the mechanical signals provided to MSCs by the microenvironment have a particularly pronounced effect on their physiological functions and can affect osteogenic differentiation, chondrogenic differentiation, and senescence in MSCs. Mechanosensitive ion channels such as Piezo1 and Piezo2 are important in transducing mechanical signals, and these channels are widely distributed in sites such as skin, bladder, kidney, lung, sensory neurons, and dorsal root ganglia. Although there have been numerous studies on Piezo channels in MSCs in recent years, the function of Piezo channels in MSCs is still not well understood, and there has been no summary of their relationship to illustrate which physiological functions of MSCs are affected by Piezo channels and the possible underlying mechanisms. Therefore, based on the members, structures, and functions of Piezo ion channels and the fundamental information of MSCs, this paper focused on summarizing the advances in Piezo channels in MSCs from various tissue sources to provide new ideas for future research and practical applications of Piezo channels and MSCs.
Topics: Osteogenesis; Mesenchymal Stem Cells; Cell Differentiation; Cell- and Tissue-Based Therapy; Chondrogenesis
PubMed: 37633928
DOI: 10.1186/s13287-023-03452-y -
International Journal of Molecular... Nov 2023The gilthead seabream, one of the most important species in Mediterranean aquaculture, with an increasing status of exploitation in terms of production volume and... (Review)
Review
The gilthead seabream, one of the most important species in Mediterranean aquaculture, with an increasing status of exploitation in terms of production volume and aquafarming technologies, has become an important research topic over the years. The accumulation of knowledge from several studies conducted during recent decades on their functional and biological characteristics has significantly improved their aquacultural aspects, namely their reproductive success, survival, and growth. Despite the remarkable progress in the aquaculture industry, hatchery conditions are still far from ideal, resulting in frequent abnormalities at the beginning of intensive culture, entailing significant economic losses. Those deformities are induced during the embryonic and post-embryonic periods of life, and their development is still poorly understood. In the present review, we created a comprehensive synthesis that covers the various aspects of skeletal morphogenesis and anomalies in the gilthead seabream, highlighting the genetic, environmental, and nutritional factors contributing to bone deformities and emphasized the potential of the gilthead seabream as a model organism for understanding bone morphogenesis in both aquaculture and translational biological research. This review article addresses the existing lack in the literature regarding gilthead seabream bone deformities, as there are currently no comprehensive reviews on this subject.
Topics: Animals; Sea Bream; Aquaculture; Morphogenesis
PubMed: 38003219
DOI: 10.3390/ijms242216030 -
Viruses Aug 2023Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a defective RNA virus with a negative-strand RNA genome encompassing less than 1700 nucleotides. The HDV genome encodes only for one protein,... (Review)
Review
Hepatitis D virus (HDV) is a defective RNA virus with a negative-strand RNA genome encompassing less than 1700 nucleotides. The HDV genome encodes only for one protein, the hepatitis delta antigen (HDAg), which exists in two forms acting as nucleoproteins. HDV depends on the envelope proteins of the hepatitis B virus as a helper virus for packaging its ribonucleoprotein complex (RNP). HDV is considered the causative agent for the most severe form of viral hepatitis leading to liver fibrosis/cirrhosis and hepatocellular carcinoma. Many steps of the life cycle of HDV are still enigmatic. This review gives an overview of the complete life cycle of HDV and identifies gaps in knowledge. The focus is on the description of cellular factors being involved in the life cycle of HDV and the deregulation of cellular pathways by HDV with respect to their relevance for viral replication, morphogenesis and HDV-associated pathogenesis. Moreover, recent progress in antiviral strategies targeting cellular structures is summarized in this article.
Topics: Animals; Hepatitis Delta Virus; Hepatitis delta Antigens; Antiviral Agents; Life Cycle Stages; Liver Cirrhosis; Liver Neoplasms
PubMed: 37632029
DOI: 10.3390/v15081687 -
Current Opinion in Neurobiology Oct 2023The transition from larval to adult locomotion in the anuran, Xenopus laevis, involves a dramatic switch from axial to appendicular swimming including intermediate... (Review)
Review
The transition from larval to adult locomotion in the anuran, Xenopus laevis, involves a dramatic switch from axial to appendicular swimming including intermediate stages when the tail and hindlimbs co-exist and contribute to propulsion. Hatchling tadpole swimming is generated by an axial central pattern generator (CPG) which matures rapidly during early larval life. During metamorphosis, the developing limbs are controlled by a de novo appendicular CPG driven initially by the axial system before segregating to allow both systems to operate together or independently. Neuromodulation plays important roles throughout, but key modulators switch their effects from early inhibitory influences to facilitating locomotion. Temperature affects the construction and operation of locomotor networks and global changes in environmental temperature place aquatic poikilotherms, like amphibians, at risk. The locomotor control strategy of anurans differs from other amphibian groups such as salamanders, where evolution has acted upon the thyroid hormone pathway to sculpt different developmental outcomes.
Topics: Animals; Spinal Cord; Larva; Locomotion; Swimming; Anura; Metamorphosis, Biological
PubMed: 37549591
DOI: 10.1016/j.conb.2023.102753 -
Trends in Parasitology Dec 2023A critical part of the malaria parasite's life cycle is invasion of red blood cells (RBCs) by merozoites. Inside RBCs, the parasite forms a schizont, which undergoes... (Review)
Review
A critical part of the malaria parasite's life cycle is invasion of red blood cells (RBCs) by merozoites. Inside RBCs, the parasite forms a schizont, which undergoes segmentation to produce daughter merozoites. These cells are released, establishing cycles of invasion. Traditionally, merozoites are represented as nonmotile, egg-shaped cells that invade RBCs 'narrower end' first and pack within schizonts with this narrower end facing outwards. Here, we discuss recent evidence and re-evaluate previous data which suggest that merozoites are capable of motility and have spherical or elongated-teardrop shapes. Furthermore, merozoites invade RBCs 'wider end' first and pack within schizonts with this wider end facing outwards. We encourage the field to review this revised model and consider its implications for future studies.
Topics: Animals; Parasites; Malaria; Schizonts; Merozoites; Life Cycle Stages
PubMed: 37827961
DOI: 10.1016/j.pt.2023.09.010 -
Development (Cambridge, England) Jan 2024The autonomic nervous system innervates the pancreas by sympathetic, parasympathetic and sensory branches during early organogenesis, starting with neural crest cell... (Review)
Review
The autonomic nervous system innervates the pancreas by sympathetic, parasympathetic and sensory branches during early organogenesis, starting with neural crest cell invasion and formation of an intrinsic neuronal network. Several studies have demonstrated that signals from pancreatic neural crest cells direct pancreatic endocrinogenesis. Likewise, autonomic neurons have been shown to regulate pancreatic islet formation, and have also been implicated in type I diabetes. Here, we provide an overview of recent progress in mapping pancreatic innervation and understanding the interactions between pancreatic neurons, epithelial morphogenesis and cell differentiation. Finally, we discuss pancreas innervation as a factor in the development of diabetes.
Topics: Humans; Cell Differentiation; Diabetes Mellitus; Islets of Langerhans; Organogenesis; Pancreas
PubMed: 38265192
DOI: 10.1242/dev.202254 -
Genes Aug 2023In China, the sale of freshly slaughtered chickens is becoming increasingly popular in comparison with that of live chickens, and due to this emerging trend, the skin... (Review)
Review
In China, the sale of freshly slaughtered chickens is becoming increasingly popular in comparison with that of live chickens, and due to this emerging trend, the skin and feather follicle traits of yellow-feathered broilers have attracted a great deal of research attention. The feather follicle originates from the interaction between the epidermis and dermis in the early embryonic stage. Feather follicle morphogenesis is regulated by the Wnt, ectodysplasin (Eda), epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF), bone morphogenetic protein (BMP), sonic hedgehog (Shh), Notch, and other signaling pathways that exist in epithelial and mesenchymal cells. The Wnt pathway is essential for feather follicle and feather morphogenesis. Eda interacts with Wnt to induce FGF expression, which attracts mesenchymal cell movement and aggregates to form feather follicle primordia. BMP acts as an inhibitor of the above signaling pathways to limit the size of the feather tract and distance between neighboring feather primordia in a dose-dependent manner. The Notch/Delta pathway can interact with the FGF pathway to promote feather bud formation. While not a part of the early morphogenesis of feather follicles, Shh and BMP signaling are involved in late feather branching. This review summarizes the roles of miRNAs/lncRNA in the regulation of feather follicle and feather growth and development and suggests topics that need to be solved in a future study. This review focuses on the regulatory mechanisms involved in feather follicle morphogenesis and analyzes the impact of SNP sites on feather follicle traits in poultry. This work may help us to understand the molecular regulatory networks influencing feather follicle growth and provide basic data for poultry carcass quality.
Topics: Animals; Hedgehog Proteins; Feathers; Chickens; Morphogenesis; Embryonic Development; Ectodysplasins; Fibroblast Growth Factors
PubMed: 37628697
DOI: 10.3390/genes14081646 -
Nature Aug 2023The concomitant occurrence of tissue growth and organization is a hallmark of organismal development. This often means that proliferating and differentiating cells are...
The concomitant occurrence of tissue growth and organization is a hallmark of organismal development. This often means that proliferating and differentiating cells are found at the same time in a continuously changing tissue environment. How cells adapt to architectural changes to prevent spatial interference remains unclear. Here, to understand how cell movements that are key for growth and organization are orchestrated, we study the emergence of photoreceptor neurons that occur during the peak of retinal growth, using zebrafish, human tissue and human organoids. Quantitative imaging reveals that successful retinal morphogenesis depends on the active bidirectional translocation of photoreceptors, leading to a transient transfer of the entire cell population away from the apical proliferative zone. This pattern of migration is driven by cytoskeletal machineries that differ depending on the direction: microtubules are exclusively required for basal translocation, whereas actomyosin is involved in apical movement. Blocking the basal translocation of photoreceptors induces apical congestion, which hampers the apical divisions of progenitor cells and leads to secondary defects in lamination. Thus, photoreceptor migration is crucial to prevent competition for space, and to allow concurrent tissue growth and lamination. This shows that neuronal migration, in addition to its canonical role in cell positioning, can be involved in coordinating morphogenesis.
Topics: Animals; Humans; Actomyosin; Cell Competition; Cell Differentiation; Cell Movement; Cell Proliferation; Microtubules; Morphogenesis; Organoids; Photoreceptor Cells; Retina; Zebrafish
PubMed: 37558872
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06392-y -
Nature Methods Jun 2024
Topics: Morphogenesis; Animals; Humans; Biomechanical Phenomena
PubMed: 38866987
DOI: 10.1038/s41592-024-02312-8 -
Nature Communications Dec 2023BMP-1/tolloid-like proteinases (BTPs) are major players in tissue morphogenesis, growth and repair. They act by promoting the deposition of structural extracellular...
BMP-1/tolloid-like proteinases (BTPs) are major players in tissue morphogenesis, growth and repair. They act by promoting the deposition of structural extracellular matrix proteins and by controlling the activity of matricellular proteins and TGF-β superfamily growth factors. They have also been implicated in several pathological conditions such as fibrosis, cancer, metabolic disorders and bone diseases. Despite this broad range of pathophysiological functions, the putative existence of a specific endogenous inhibitor capable of controlling their activities could never be confirmed. Here, we show that procollagen C-proteinase enhancer-2 (PCPE-2), a protein previously reported to bind fibrillar collagens and to promote their BTP-dependent maturation, is primarily a potent and specific inhibitor of BTPs which can counteract their proteolytic activities through direct binding. PCPE-2 therefore differs from the cognate PCPE-1 protein and extends the possibilities to fine-tune BTP activities, both in physiological conditions and in therapeutic settings.
Topics: Humans; Peptide Hydrolases; Glycoproteins; Extracellular Matrix Proteins; Morphogenesis; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
PubMed: 38049428
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43401-0