Project description:Developmental estrogen exposure causes permanent alterations to mouse prostate development. Fetal prostatic mesenchyme cells regulate epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation, and alterations to mesenchymal regulation of prostate epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation may lead to permanent changes in gland structure and function. Our goal was to understand how mesenchymal cells convert estrogen signaling to stimuli that affect epithelial cells. We used microarrays to identify estrogen-induced transcriptomal changes in primary cultures of fetal mouse prostate mesenchymal cells. Experiment Overall Design: Urogenital sinus mesenchymal cells were obtained from CD-1 male mouse fetuses at gestation day 17 and cultured in the presence of 0.1 μM estradiol .
Project description:The goal of this experiment was to determine if testosterone (T) and estradiol-17 beta (E2) induced gene expression in mouse urogenital sinus mesenchymal (UGM) cells. When UGM grown in culture was treated with T+E2, numerous genes were increased and decreased compared to untreated controls. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to verify results of a subset of genes.
Project description:Developmental exposure of mouse fetuses to estrogens results in dose-dependent permanent effects on prostate morphology and function. Fetal prostatic mesenchyme cells express estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and androgen receptors and convert stimuli from estrogens and androgens into signaling to regulate epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation. To obtain mechanistic insight into the role of different doses of estradiol (E2) in regulating mesenchymal cells, we examined E2-induced transcriptomal changes in primary cultures of fetal mouse prostate mesenchymal cells. Urogenital sinus mesenchyme cells were obtained from male mouse fetuses at gestation day 17 and exposed to 10 pM, 100 pM or 100 nM E2 in the presence of a physiological concentration of dihydrotestosterone (0.69 nM) for four days. Gene ontology studies suggested that low doses of E2 (10 pM and 100 pM) induce genes involved in cell adhesion, morphological tissue development, and sterol biosynthesis but suppress genes involved in growth factor signaling and cell adhesion. Genes showing inverted-U-shape dose responses (enhanced by E2 at 10 pM E2 but suppressed at 100 pM) were identified, and their enrichment in the glycolytic pathway was demonstrated. At the highest dose (100 nM), E2 induced genes enriched not only for cell adhesion but also steroid hormone signaling and metabolism, cytokines and their receptors, cell-to-cell communication, Wnt signaling, and TGF-β signaling. These results suggest that prostate mesenchymal cells may regulate epithelial cells through direct cell contacts when estrogen level is low whereas soluble growth factors might play significant roles when estrogen level is high. Primary culture urogenital sinus mesenchymal cells were isolated from prostate glands of gestation day 17 CD1 male mouse fetuses. Cells were then exposed to 10 pM or 100 pM 17beta-estradiol or vehicle (0.05% ethanol) for four days in the presence of 690 pM 5alpha-dihydrotestosterone. Total cellular RNA was then isolated for determination of transcriptomal profiles by Affymetrix mouse gene 1.0 ST array.
Project description:The goal of this experiment was to determine if testosterone (T) and estradiol-17 beta (E2) induced gene expression in mouse urogenital sinus mesenchymal (UGM) cells. When UGM grown in culture was treated with T+E2, numerous genes were increased and decreased compared to untreated controls. Quantitative RT-PCR was used to verify results of a subset of genes. UGM cells were untreated or treated with T+E2 for 72hrs. One mouse gene expression array was used for each group.
Project description:We demonstrate a new high-throughput model where rapidly proliferating and easily handled induced pluripotent stem cells enable generation of human prostate tissue in vivo and, for the first time, in vitro. Using a co-culture technique with urogenital sinus mesenchyme, we recapitulated the in situ prostate histology, including the stromal compartment and the full spectrum of epithelial differentiation.
Project description:Developmental exposure of mouse fetuses to estrogens results in dose-dependent permanent effects on prostate morphology and function. Fetal prostatic mesenchyme cells express estrogen receptor alpha (ERα) and androgen receptors and convert stimuli from estrogens and androgens into signaling to regulate epithelial cell proliferation and differentiation. To obtain mechanistic insight into the role of different doses of estradiol (E2) in regulating mesenchymal cells, we examined E2-induced transcriptomal changes in primary cultures of fetal mouse prostate mesenchymal cells. Urogenital sinus mesenchyme cells were obtained from male mouse fetuses at gestation day 17 and exposed to 10 pM, 100 pM or 100 nM E2 in the presence of a physiological concentration of dihydrotestosterone (0.69 nM) for four days. Gene ontology studies suggested that low doses of E2 (10 pM and 100 pM) induce genes involved in cell adhesion, morphological tissue development, and sterol biosynthesis but suppress genes involved in growth factor signaling and cell adhesion. Genes showing inverted-U-shape dose responses (enhanced by E2 at 10 pM E2 but suppressed at 100 pM) were identified, and their enrichment in the glycolytic pathway was demonstrated. At the highest dose (100 nM), E2 induced genes enriched not only for cell adhesion but also steroid hormone signaling and metabolism, cytokines and their receptors, cell-to-cell communication, Wnt signaling, and TGF-β signaling. These results suggest that prostate mesenchymal cells may regulate epithelial cells through direct cell contacts when estrogen level is low whereas soluble growth factors might play significant roles when estrogen level is high.
Project description:Introgressed variants from other species can be an important source of genetic variation because they may arise rapidly, can include multiple mutations on a single haplotype, and have often been pretested by selection in the species of origin. Although introgressed alleles are generally deleterious, several studies have reported introgression as the source of adaptive alleles-including the rodenticide-resistant variant of Vkorc1 that introgressed from Mus spretus into European populations of Mus musculus domesticus. Here, we conducted bidirectional genome scans to characterize introgressed regions into one wild population of M. spretus from Spain and three wild populations of M. m. domesticus from France, Germany, and Iran. Despite the fact that these species show considerable intrinsic postzygotic reproductive isolation, introgression was observed in all individuals, including in the M. musculus reference genome (GRCm38). Mus spretus individuals had a greater proportion of introgression compared with M. m. domesticus, and within M. m. domesticus, the proportion of introgression decreased with geographic distance from the area of sympatry. Introgression was observed on all autosomes for both species, but not on the X-chromosome in M. m. domesticus, consistent with known X-linked hybrid sterility and inviability genes that have been mapped to the M. spretus X-chromosome. Tract lengths were generally short with a few outliers of up to 2.7 Mb. Interestingly, the longest introgressed tracts were in olfactory receptor regions, and introgressed tracts were significantly enriched for olfactory receptor genes in both species, suggesting that introgression may be a source of functional novelty even between species with high barriers to gene flow.