Project description:Multilevel logical model encompassing the Nodal and BMP pathways together with key transcription factors setting the dorsal-ventral axis in the sea urchin P. lividus embryo. This model accounts for the specification of wild-type ventral ectoderm, ciliary band and dorsal ectoderm, and further recapitulates sophisticated mutant phenotypes.
Project description:The hippocampus - one of the most studied brain regions – is a key target of the stress response and vulnerable to the detrimental effects of stress. Although its intrinsic organization is highly conserved throughout its long dorsal-ventral axis, the dorsal hippocampus is linked to spatial navigation and memory formation, whereas the ventral hippocampus is linked to emotional regulation. Here, we provide the first combined transcriptomic and proteomic profiling that reveals striking differences between dorsal and ventral hippocampus. Using various acute stress challenges we demonstrate that both regions display very distinct molecular responses, and that the ventral hippocampus is particularly responsive to the effects of stress. We demonstrate that separately analyzing dorsal and ventral hippocampus greatly increases the ability to detect region-specific stress effects, and we identify an epigenetic network, which is specifically sensitive to acute stress in the ventral hippocampus.
Project description:During the process of flower opening, most petals move downward in the direction of pedicel (i.e., epinastic movement). In most Delphinium flowers, however, their two lateral petals display a very peculiar movement, the mirrored helical rotation. Such a distinctive petal movement requires the twist of the stalk. However, in some lineages, their lateral petals also exhibit asymmetric bending that increases the degree of mirrored helical rotation, facilitating the formation of a 3D final shape. Notably, the petal asymmetric bending is a novel trait that has not been noticed yet so that its morphological nature, developmental process and molecular mechanisms remain largely unknown. Here, by using D. anthriscifolium as a model, we determined that the petal asymmetric bending was caused by localized expansion of cell width, accompanied with specialized arrangement of surface ornamentation, on the adaxial epidermis. Digital gene analyses, gene expression and functional studies revealed that a class I homeodomain-leucine zipper family transcription factor gene, DeanLATE MERISTEM IDENTITY1 (DeanLMI1), contributes to the petal asymmetric bending; knockdown of it led to the formation of explanate 2D petals. Specifically, DeanLMI1 promotes cell expansion in width and influences the arrangement of surface ornamentation, through regulating the auxin distribution, on the localized adaxial epidermis. These results not only provide a comprehensive portrait of petal asymmetric bending for the first time, but also shed some new insight into the mechanisms of flower opening and helical movement in plants.
Project description:Label-free Proteomic profile of the dentate gyrus (dorsal and ventral) and CA3 (dorsal and ventral) microdissected from the hippocampus of the pilocarpine model of Mesial Temporal Lobe Epilepsy.
