Embryonic Structures Commons^™

The Effects Of Mapk Signaling On The Development Of Cerebellar Granule Cells, Kerry Morgan

Honors Scholar Theses

The granule cells are the most abundant neuronal type in the human brain. Rapid proliferation of granule cell progenitors results in dramatic expansion and folding of the cerebellar cortex during postnatal development. Mis-regulation of this proliferation process causes medulloblastoma, the most prevalent childhood brain tumor. In the developing cerebellum, granule cells are derived from Atoh1-expressing cells, which arise from the upper rhombic lip (the interface between the roof plate and neuroepithelium). In addition to granule cells, the Atoh1 lineage also gives rise to different types of neurons including cerebellar nuclei neurons. In the current study, I have investigated the ...

Use Of Umbilical Cord Mesencymal Stem Cells In The Treatment Of Severe Covid-19 Pneumonia, Michelle Joy De Vera, Marc Joseph Buensalido, Jan Jorge Francisco, Jia An Bello, Alan Olavere, Alma Calavera, Josephine Ramos, Norma Ona, Eyreka Escalambre, Marvin Delos Santos, Samuel Bernal, Vasiliki E. Kalodimou

Ateneo School of Medicine and Public Health Faculty Publications

A proposed mechanism of severe Corona virus Disease-2019 (COVID-19) is a deregulated innate immune response to an infection with SARS-CoV-2 resulting in cytokine release syndrome (CRS). Mesencymal stem cells (MSC) have been shown to have immunomodulatory effects and may attenuate the CRS. We present 11 cases of severe COVID-19 pneumonia treated with umbilical cord-derived, non-HLA matched MSC administered as four separate intravenous doses, 5×105 cells/kg. Clinical symptoms, measurements of inflammatory mediators and cytokines (IL6, IL10, IFN-γ, TNF-α), and radiological results were recorded for each patient. Although there were large variations in baseline cytokine pattern elevation, all cytokine levels ...

Rad21 Is Involved In Corneal Stroma Development By Regulating Neural Crest Migration, Bi Ning Zhang, Yu Liu, Qichen Yang, Pui Ying Leung, Chengdong Wang, Thomas Chi Wong Bun, Clement C. Tham, Sun On Chan, Chi Pui Pang, Li Jia Chen, Job Dekker, Hui Zhao, Wai Kit Chu

Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors

Previously, we identified RAD21(R450C) from a peripheral sclerocornea pedigree. Injection of this rad21 variant mRNA into Xenopus laevis embryos disrupted the organization of corneal stroma fibrils. To understand the mechanisms of RAD21-mediated corneal stroma defects, gene expression and chromosome conformation analysis were performed using cells from family members affected by peripheral sclerocornea. Both gene expression and chromosome conformation of cell adhesion genes were affected in cells carrying the heterozygous rad21 variant. Since cell migration is essential in early embryonic development and sclerocornea is a congenital disease, we studied neural crest migration during cornea development in X. laevis embryos. In ...

Implantation And Gastrulation Abnormalities Characterize Early Embryonic Lethal Mouse Lines [Preprint], Yeonsoo Yoon, Joy Riley, Judith Gallant, Ping Xu, Jaime A. Rivera-Pérez

UMass Chan Medical School Faculty Publications

The period of development between the zygote and embryonic day 9.5 in mice includes multiple developmental milestones essential for embryogenesis. The preeminence of this period of development has been illustrated in loss of function studies conducted by the International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC) which have shown that close to one third of all mouse genes are essential for survival to weaning age and a significant number of mutations cause embryo lethality before E9.5. Here we report a systematic analysis of 21 pre-E9.5 lethal lines generated by the IMPC. Analysis of pre- and post-implantation embryos revealed that the ...

Contraceptive Methods In The United States: The Question Of Abortive Mechanisms, Tara Ferenczy

Senior Honors Theses

This thesis reviews the many methods of contraception available in the United States. Although society’s understanding of women’s health has become a major topic, there is still a significant deficit of information regarding how the accessible methods affect women’s bodies, specifically reproductive tissue. The thesis analyzes numerous contraceptive options focusing specifically on the mechanisms of action to determine whether options have abortifacient properties so that readers may develop educated opinions regarding medical and ethical uses. Information involving strengths and limitations of each technique and the effects on both the female body and the reproductive material assist in ...

Early Life Lessons: The Lasting Effects Of Germline Epigenetic Information On Organismal Development, Carolina Galan, Marina Krykbaeva, Oliver J. Rando

Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors

BACKGROUND: An organism's metabolic phenotype is primarily affected by its genotype, its lifestyle, and the nutritional composition of its food supply. In addition, it is now clear from studies in many different species that ancestral environments can also modulate metabolism in at least one to two generations of offspring.

SCOPE OF REVIEW: We limit ourselves here to paternal effects in mammals, primarily focusing on studies performed in inbred rodent models. Although hundreds of studies link paternal diets and offspring metabolism, the mechanistic basis by which epigenetic information in sperm programs nutrient handling in the next generation remains mysterious. Our ...

Flexibility And Constraint In Preimplantation Gene Regulation In Mouse [Preprint], Colin C. Conine, Marina Krykbaeva, Lina Song, Robert C. Brewster, Nir Friedman, Oliver J. Rando

UMass Chan Medical School Faculty Publications

Although many features of embryonic development exhibit remarkable stability in the face of environmental perturbations, it is also clear that some aspects of early embryogenesis can be modulated by non-genetic influences during and after fertilization. Among potential perturbations experienced during reproduction, understanding the consequences of differing ex vivo fertilization methods at a molecular level is imperative for comprehending both the basic biology of early development and the potential consequences of assisted reproduction. Here, we set out to explore stable and flexible aspects of preimplantation gene expression using single-embryo RNA-sequencing of mouse embryos fertilized by natural mating, in vitro fertilization, or ...

Regulation Of Zebrafish Melanocyte Development By Ligand-Dependent Bmp Signaling, Alec Gramann, Arvind M. Venkatesan, Melissa Guerin, Craig J. Ceol

Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors

Preventing terminal differentiation is important in the development and progression of many cancers including melanoma. Recent identification of the BMP ligand GDF6 as a novel melanoma oncogene showed GDF6-activated BMP signaling suppresses differentiation of melanoma cells. Previous studies have identified roles for GDF6 orthologs during early embryonic and neural crest development, but have not identified direct regulation of melanocyte development by GDF6. Here, we investigate the BMP ligand gdf6a, a zebrafish ortholog of human GDF6, during the development of melanocytes from the neural crest. We establish that the loss of gdf6a or inhibition of BMP signaling during neural crest development ...

The Genome-Wide Multi-Layered Architecture Of Chromosome Pairing In Early Drosophila Embryos, Jelena Erceg, Jumana Alhaj Abed, Anton Goloborodko, Bryan R. Lajoie, Geoffrey Fudenberg, Nezar Abdennur, Maxim Imakaev, Ruth B. Mccole, Son C. Nguyen, Wren Saylor, Eric F. Joyce, T. Niroshini Senaratne, Mohammed A. Hannan, Guy Nir, Job Dekker, Leonid A. Mirny, C-Ting Wu

Systems Biology Publications

Genome organization involves cis and trans chromosomal interactions, both implicated in gene regulation, development, and disease. Here, we focus on trans interactions in Drosophila, where homologous chromosomes are paired in somatic cells from embryogenesis through adulthood. We first address long-standing questions regarding the structure of embryonic homolog pairing and, to this end, develop a haplotype-resolved Hi-C approach to minimize homolog misassignment and thus robustly distinguish trans-homolog from cis contacts. This computational approach, which we call Ohm, reveals pairing to be surprisingly structured genome-wide, with trans-homolog domains, compartments, and interaction peaks, many coinciding with analogous cis features. We also find a ...

Integrins Have Cell-Type-Specific Roles In The Development Of Motor Neuron Connectivity, Devyn Oliver, Emily Norman, Heather Bates, Rachel Avard, Monika Rettler, Claire Y. Benard, Michael M. Francis, Michele L. Lemons

Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors

Formation of the nervous system requires a complex series of events including proper extension and guidance of neuronal axons and dendrites. Here we investigate the requirement for integrins, a class of transmembrane cell adhesion receptors, in regulating these processes across classes of C. elegans motor neurons. We show alpha integrin/ina-1 is expressed by both GABAergic and cholinergic motor neurons. Despite this, our analysis of hypomorphic ina-1(gm144) mutants indicates preferential involvement of alpha integrin/ina-1 in GABAergic commissural development, without obvious involvement in cholinergic commissural development. The defects in GABAergic commissures of ina-1(gm144) mutants included both premature termination ...

Pax9 Is Required For Cardiovascular Development And Interacts With Tbx1 In The Pharyngeal Endoderm To Control 4(Th) Pharyngeal Arch Artery Morphogenesis, Helen M. Phillips, Rene Maehr, Simon D. Bamforth

Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors

Developmental defects affecting the heart and aortic arch arteries are a significant phenotype observed in 22q11 deletion syndrome patients and are caused by a microdeletion on chromosome 22q11. TBX1, one of the deleted genes, is expressed throughout the pharyngeal arches and is considered a key gene, when mutated, for the arch artery defects. Pax9 is expressed in the pharyngeal endoderm and is downregulated in Tbx1 mutant mice. We show here that Pax9 deficient mice are born with complex cardiovascular malformations affecting the outflow tract and aortic arch arteries with failure of the 3(rd) and 4(th) pharyngeal arch arteries ...

Distinct Features Of Nucleolus-Associated Domains In Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells [Preprint], Aizhan Bizhanova, Aimin Yan, Jun Yu, Lihua Julie Zhu, Paul D. Kaufman

UMass Chan Medical School Faculty Publications

Background Heterochromatin in eukaryotic interphase cells frequently localizes to the nucleolar periphery (nucleolus-associated domains, NADs) and the nuclear lamina (lamina-associated domains, LADs). Gene expression in somatic cell NADs is generally low, but NADs have not been characterized in mammalian stem cells.

Results Here, we generated the first genome-wide map of NADs in mouse embryonic stem cells (mESCs) via deep sequencing of chromatin associated with biochemically-purified nucleoli. As we had observed in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs), the large Type I subset of NADs overlaps with constitutive LADs and is enriched for features of constitutive heterochromatin, including late replication timing and low ...

Two Contrasting Classes Of Nucleolus-Associated Domains In Mouse Fibroblast Heterochromatin, Anastassiia Vertii, Jianhong Ou, Jun Yu, Aimin Yan, Herve Pages, Haibo Liu, Lihua Julie Zhu, Paul D. Kaufman

Program in Molecular Medicine Publications

In interphase eukaryotic cells, almost all heterochromatin is located adjacent to the nucleolus or to the nuclear lamina, thus defining nucleolus-associated domains (NADs) and lamina-associated domains (LADs), respectively. Here, we determined the first genome-scale map of murine NADs in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) via deep sequencing of chromatin associated with purified nucleoli. We developed a Bioconductor package called NADfinder and demonstrated that it identifies NADs more accurately than other peak-calling tools, owing to its critical feature of chromosome-level local baseline correction. We detected two distinct classes of NADs. Type I NADs associate frequently with both the nucleolar periphery and the ...

Tale And Nf-Y Co-Occupancy Marks Enhancers Of Developmental Control Genes During Zygotic Genome Activation In Zebrafish [Preprint], William J. Stanney Iii, Franck Ladam, Ian J. Donaldson, Teagan J. Parsons, Rene Maehr, Nicoletta Bobola, Charles G. Sagerstrom

UMass Chan Medical School Faculty Publications

Animal embryogenesis is initiated by maternal factors, but zygotic genome activation (ZGA) shifts control to the embryo at early blastula stages. ZGA is thought to be mediated by specialized maternally deposited transcription factors (TFs), but here we demonstrate that NF-Y and TALE – TFs with known later roles in embryogenesis – co-occupy unique genomic elements at zebrafish ZGA. We show that these elements are selectively associated with early-expressed genes involved in transcriptional regulation and possess enhancer activity in vivo. In contrast, we find that elements individually occupied by either NF-Y or TALE are associated with genes acting later in development – such that ...

Rapid Irreversible Transcriptional Reprogramming In Human Stem Cells Accompanied By Discordance Between Replication Timing And Chromatin Compartment, Vishnu Dileep, Rachel Patton Mccord, Job Dekker, David M. Gilbert

Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors

The temporal order of DNA replication is regulated during development and is highly correlated with gene expression, histone modifications and 3D genome architecture. We tracked changes in replication timing, gene expression, and chromatin conformation capture (Hi-C) A/B compartments over the first two cell cycles during differentiation of human embryonic stem cells to definitive endoderm. Remarkably, transcriptional programs were irreversibly reprogrammed within the first cell cycle and were largely but not universally coordinated with replication timing changes. Moreover, changes in A/B compartment and several histone modifications that normally correlate strongly with replication timing showed weak correlation during the early ...

Enhanced Cas12a Editing In Mammalian Cells And Zebrafish, Pengpeng Liu, Kevin Luk, Masahiro Shin, Feston Idrizi, Samantha F. Kwok, Benjamin P. Roscoe, Esther Mintzer, Sneha Suresh, Kyle Morrison, Josias B. Frazao, Mehmet Fatih Bolukbasi, Karthikeyan Ponnienselvan, Jeremy Luban, Lihua Julie Zhu, Nathan D. Lawson, Scot A. Wolfe

Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors

Type V CRISPR-Cas12a systems provide an alternate nuclease platform to Cas9, with potential advantages for specific genome editing applications. Here we describe improvements to the Cas12a system that facilitate efficient targeted mutagenesis in mammalian cells and zebrafish embryos. We show that engineered variants of Cas12a with two different nuclear localization sequences (NLS) on the C terminus provide increased editing efficiency in mammalian cells. Additionally, we find that pre-crRNAs comprising a full-length direct repeat (full-DR-crRNA) sequence with specific stem-loop G-C base substitutions exhibit increased editing efficiencies compared with the standard mature crRNA framework. Finally, we demonstrate in zebrafish embryos that the ...

Defects In Fetal Mouth Movement And Pharyngeal Patterning Underlie Cleft Palate Caused By Retinoid Deficiency., Regina Friedl

Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Cleft palate is a common birth defect. Etiologic mechanisms of palate cleft include defects in palate morphogenesis, mandibular growth, or spontaneous fetal mouth movement. Cleft palate linked to deficient fetal mouth movement has been demonstrated directly only in a single experimental model of loss of neurotransmission. Here, using retinoid deficient mouse embryos, we demonstrate directly for the first time that deficient fetal mouth movement and cleft palate occurs as a result of mis-patterned development of pharyngeal peripheral nerves and cartilages. Retinoid deficient embryos were generated by inactivation of retinol dehydrogenase 10 (Rdh10), which is critical for production of Retinoic Acid ...

Ouabain Enhances Cell-Cell Adhesion Mediated By Beta1 Subunits Of The Na(+),K(+)-Atpase In Cho Fibroblasts, Claudia Andrea Vilchis-Nestor, Maria Luisa Roldan, Angelina Leonardi, Juan G. Navea, Teresita Padilla-Benavides, Liora Shoshani

Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors

Adhesion is a crucial characteristic of epithelial cells to form barriers to pathogens and toxic substances from the environment. Epithelial cells attach to each other using intercellular junctions on the lateral membrane, including tight and adherent junctions, as well as the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase. Our group has shown that non-adherent chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells transfected with the canine beta1 subunit become adhesive, and those homotypic interactions amongst beta1 subunits of the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase occur between neighboring epithelial cells. Ouabain, a cardiotonic steroid, binds to the alpha subunit of the Na(+),K(+)-ATPase, inhibits the pump activity and induces ...

Single-Cell Rna-Sequencing-Based Crispri Screening Resolves Molecular Drivers Of Early Human Endoderm Development, Ryan M. Genga, Eric M. Kernfeld, Krishna M. Parsi, Teagan J. Parsons, Michael J. Ziller, Rene Maehr

Open Access Publications by UMass Chan Authors

Studies in vertebrates have outlined conserved molecular control of definitive endoderm (END) development. However, recent work also shows that key molecular aspects of human END regulation differ even from rodents. Differentiation of human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to END offers a tractable system to study the molecular basis of normal and defective human-specific END development. Here, we interrogated dynamics in chromatin accessibility during differentiation of ESCs to END, predicting DNA-binding proteins that may drive this cell fate transition. We then combined single-cell RNA-seq with parallel CRISPR perturbations to comprehensively define the loss-of-function phenotype of those factors in END development. Following ...

Arterial Distribution Of The Human Aorta: An Examination Of The Evolutionary, Developmental, And Physiological Bases Of Asymmetry., Brandon Oddo, Cooker Storm

Seaver College Research And Scholarly Achievement Symposium

The study of anatomy contends that “form follows function”; a disciplinary theme purporting that anatomical structures (i.e., cells, tissues, and organs) have a shape that serves its proper function. With this in mind, it is unclear why human arterial distribution off the aortic arch is asymmetrical, while the corresponding venous anatomy is symmetrical. We investigated the evolutionary, developmental, and physiological bases for the asymmetry of aortic arch branches in humans. First, we investigated the cardiovascular anatomy of ancestral species to determine if, and at what level, anatomical divergence (from aortic symmetry to asymmetry) occurs. Second, we examined the formation ...