Project description:RNAi targeting a conserved C. elegans cyclophilin, sig-7, causes defective development and embryonic arrest consistent with a global defect in transcription. The goal of this study was to compare the transcript levels in sig-7(RNAi) embryos to those of L4440/RNAi control embryos to examine the global transcriptional effect caused by of loss of sig-7 function
Project description:RNAi targeting a conserved C. elegans cyclophilin, sig-7, causes defective development and embryonic arrest consistent with a global defect in transcription. The goal of this study was to compare the transcript levels in sig-7(RNAi) embryos to those of L4440/RNAi control embryos to examine the global transcriptional effect caused by of loss of sig-7 function Examination of RNA levels using RNAseq in 2 replicate samples each of early embryos from sig-7(RNAi) and RNAi controls
Project description:RNAi targeting a conserved C. elegans cyclophilin, sig-7, causes defective development and embryonic arrest consistent with a global defect in transcription. The goal of this study was to compare the location of RNA Pol II in sig-7(RNAi) embryos to the localization in L4440/RNAi control embryos to examine the global effect of loss of sig-7 on RNA Pol II regulation and its distribution within gene bodies
Project description:RNAi targeting a conserved C. elegans cyclophilin, sig-7, causes defective development and embryonic arrest consistent with a global defect in transcription. The goal of this study was to compare the location of RNA Pol II in sig-7(RNAi) embryos to the localization in L4440/RNAi control embryos to examine the global effect of loss of sig-7 on RNA Pol II regulation and its distribution within gene bodies anti-AMA-1 ChIP in 2 replicates each of sig-7(RNAi) and RNAi control early stage embryos
Project description:Xenopus laevis is an important model organism in developmental biology. While there is a large literature on changes in the organism's transcriptome during development, the study of its proteome is at an embryonic state. Several papers have been published recently that characterize the proteome of X. laevis eggs and early-stage embryos; however, proteomic sample preparation optimizations have not been reported. Sample preparation is challenging because a large fraction (~90 % by weight) of the egg or early-stage embryo is yolk. We compared three common protein extraction buffer systems, mammalian Cell-PE LB(TM) lysing buffer (NP40), sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS), and 8 M urea, in terms of protein extraction efficiency and protein identifications. SDS extracts contained the highest concentration of proteins, but this extract was dominated by a high concentration of yolk proteins. In contrast, NP40 extracts contained ~30 % of the protein concentration as SDS extracts, but excelled in discriminating against yolk proteins, which resulted in more protein and peptide identifications. We then compared digestion methods using both SDS and NP40 extraction methods with one-dimensional reverse-phase liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (RPLC-MS/MS). NP40 coupled to a filter-aided sample preparation (FASP) procedure produced nearly twice the number of protein and peptide identifications compared to alternatives. When NP40-FASP samples were subjected to two-dimensional RPLC-ESI-MS/MS, a total of 5171 proteins and 38,885 peptides were identified from a single stage of embryos (stage 2), increasing the number of protein identifications by 23 % in comparison to other traditional protein extraction methods.
Project description:BackgroundEndocytosis is involved in the regulation of many cellular events, including signalling, cell migration, and cell polarity. To begin to investigate roles for endocytosis in early C. elegans development, we examined the distribution and dynamics of early endosomes (EEs) in embryos.Methodology/principal findingsEEs are primarily found at the cell periphery with an initially uniform distribution after fertilization. Strikingly, we find that during the first cell cycle, EEA-1 positive EEs become enriched at the anterior cortex. In contrast, the Golgi compartment shows no asymmetry in distribution. Asymmetric enrichment of EEs depends on acto-myosin contractility and embryonic PAR polarity. In addition to their localization at the cortex, EEs are also found around the centrosome. These EEs move rapidly (1.3 microm/s) from the cortex directly to the centrosome, a speed comparable to that of the minus end directed motor dynein.Conclusions/significanceWe speculate that the asymmetry of early endosomes might play a role in cell asymmetries or fate decisions.
Project description:Global miRNA expression profiling of human malignancies is gaining popularity in both basic and clinically driven research. But to date, the majority of such analyses have used microarrays and quantitative real-time PCR. With the introduction of digital count technologies, such as next-generation sequencing (NGS) and the NanoString nCounter System, we have at our disposal, many more options. To make effective use of these different platforms, the strengths and pitfalls of several miRNA profiling technologies were assessed, including a microarray platform, NGS technologies and the NanoString nCounter System. These results were compared to gold-standard quantitative real-time PCR. Comparison of non-small cell lung cancer cell lines grown in vitro (n = 5) and in vivo (n = 5) as xenograft models.
Project description:To determine how the genome is packaged in C. elegans sperm, we isolated adult him-8(e1489) males and collected mature sperm (~99% purity). We utilized micrococcal nuclease digestion followed by paired-end sequencing (MNase-seq) to evaluate the presence of nucleosomes across the genome in sperm vs. early embryos. We found that the sperm genome retains nucleosomes genome-wide, comparable to wild-type early embryos.