Dataset Information

Altering the levels of nuclear import factors in early Xenopus laevis embryos affects later development.

ABSTRACT: More than just a container for DNA, the nuclear envelope carries out a wide variety of critical and highly regulated cellular functions. One of these functions is nuclear import, and in this study we investigate how altering the levels of nuclear transport factors impacts developmental progression and organismal size. During early Xenopus laevis embryogenesis, the timing of a key developmental event, the midblastula transition (MBT), is sensitive to nuclear import factor levels. How might altering nuclear import factors and MBT timing in the early embryo affect downstream development of the organism? We microinjected X. laevis two-cell embryos with mRNA to increase levels of importin ? or NTF2, resulting in differential amounts of nuclear import factors in the two halves of the embryo. Compared to controls, these embryos exhibited delayed gastrulation, curved neural plates, and bent tadpoles with different sized eyes. Furthermore, embryos microinjected with NTF2 developed into smaller froglets compared to control microinjected embryos. We propose that altering nuclear import factors and nuclear size affects MBT timing, cell size, and cell number, subsequently disrupting later development. Thus, altering nuclear import factors early in development can affect function and size at the organismal level.

SUBMITTER: Jevtic P

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6476522 | biostudies-literature | 2019

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

ACCESS DATA

Publications

Altering the levels of nuclear import factors in early Xenopus laevis embryos affects later development.

Jevtić Predrag P Mukherjee Richik N RN Chen Pan P Levy Daniel L DL

PloS one 20190422 4

More than just a container for DNA, the nuclear envelope carries out a wide variety of critical and highly regulated cellular functions. One of these functions is nuclear import, and in this study we investigate how altering the levels of nuclear transport factors impacts developmental progression and organismal size. During early Xenopus laevis embryogenesis, the timing of a key developmental event, the midblastula transition (MBT), is sensitive to nuclear import factor levels. How might alteri ...[more]

PMID: 31009515

Similar Datasets

Project description:BackgroundA long-standing conventional view of radiation-induced apoptosis is that increased exposure results in augmented apoptosis in a biological system, with a threshold below which radiation doses do not cause any significant increase in cell death. The consequences of this belief impact the extent to which malignant diseases and non-malignant conditions are therapeutically treated and how radiation is used in combination with other therapies. Our research challenges the current dogma of dose-dependent induction of apoptosis and establishes a new parallel paradigm to the photoelectric effect in biological systems.Methodology/principal findingsWe explored how the energy of individual X-ray photons and exposure time, both factors that determine the total dose, influence the occurrence of cell death in early Xenopus embryo. Three different experimental scenarios were analyzed and morphological and biochemical hallmarks of apoptosis were evaluated. Initially, we examined cell death events in embryos exposed to increasing incident energies when the exposure time was preset. Then, we evaluated the embryo's response when the exposure time was augmented while the energy value remained constant. Lastly, we studied the incidence of apoptosis in embryos exposed to an equal total dose of radiation that resulted from increasing the incoming energy while lowering the exposure time.Conclusions/significanceOverall, our data establish that the energy of the incident photon is a major contributor to the outcome of the biological system. In particular, for embryos exposed under identical conditions and delivered the same absorbed dose of radiation, the response is significantly increased when shorter bursts of more energetic photons are used. These results suggest that biological organisms display properties similar to the photoelectric effect in physical systems and provide new insights into how radiation-mediated apoptosis should be understood and utilized for therapeutic purposes.

Dataset Information

Altering the levels of nuclear import factors in early Xenopus laevis embryos affects later development.

Publications

Altering the levels of nuclear import factors in early Xenopus laevis embryos affects later development.

Similar Datasets

OmicsDI is part of the ELIXIR infrastructure

Tweets