AMPK regulates Bcl2-L-13-mediated mitophagy induction for cardioprotection.

The accumulation of damaged mitochondria in the heart is associated with heart failure. Mitophagy is an autophagic degradation system that specifically targets damaged mitochondria. We have reported previously that Bcl2-like protein 13 (Bcl2-L-13) mediates mitophagy and mitochondrial fission in mammalian cells.

Extreme genome scrambling in marine planktonic cryptic species.

Genome structural variations within species are rare. How selective constraints preserve gene order and chromosome structure is a central question in evolutionary biology that remains unsolved. Our sequencing of several genomes of the appendicularian tunicate around the globe reveals extreme genome scrambling caused by thousands of chromosomal rearrangements, although showing no obvious morphological differences between these animals.

Lysophosphatidylserine induces necrosis in pressure overloaded male mouse hearts via G protein coupled receptor 34.

Heart failure is a leading cause of mortality in developed countries. Cell death is a key player in the development of heart failure. Calcium-independent phospholipase Aβ (iPLAβ) produces lipid mediators by catalyzing lipids and induces nuclear shrinkage in caspase-independent cell death.

Formation of the brain by stem cell divisions of large neuroblasts in Oikopleura dioica, a simple chordate.

Stem cell division contributes to the generation of various cell types during animal development, especially a diverse pool of neural cells in the nervous system. One example is reiterated unequal stem cell divisions, in which a large stem cell undergoes a series of oriented unequal divisions to produce a chain of small daughter cells that differentiate. We show that reiterated unequal stem cell divisions are involved in the formation of the brain in simple chordate appendicularians (larvaceans).

Zic-r.b controls cell numbers in Ciona embryos by activating CDKN1B.

The control of cell numbers and the establishment of cell types are two processes that are essential in early embryonic development. We have a reasonable understanding of how these processes occur individually, but we have considerably less sophisticated understanding of how these processes are linked. Tunicates have fixed cell lineages with predictable cell cycles, making them well suited to investigate these processes.

Ascidian gastrulation and blebbing activity of isolated endoderm blastomeres.

Gastrulation is the first dynamic cell movement during embryogenesis. Endoderm and mesoderm cells are internalized into embryos during this process. Ascidian embryos provide a simple system for studying gastrulation in chordates.

Rubicon-regulated beta-1 adrenergic receptor recycling protects the heart from pressure overload.

Heart failure has high morbidity and mortality in the developed countries. Autophagy is important for the quality control of proteins and organelles in the heart. Rubicon (Run domain Beclin-1-interacting and cysteine-rich domain-containing protein) has been identified as a potent negative regulator of autophagy and endolysosomal trafficking.

Developmental biology of the larvacean Oikopleura dioica: Genome resources, functional screening, and imaging.

The larvacean Oikopleura dioica is a cosmopolitan planktonic chordate and is closely related to vertebrates. It is characterized by a tadpole-shaped morphology with notochord flanked by muscle in the tail and brain on the dorsal side, a short life cycle of five days, a compact genome of approximately 56 Mb, a simple and transparent body with a small number of cells (~4000 in functional juveniles), invariant embryonic cell lineages, and fast development that ensures complete morphogenesis and organ formation 10 h after fertilization. With these features, this marine chordate is a promising and advantageous animal model in which genetic manipulation is feasible.

Germline development during embryogenesis of the larvacean, Oikopleura dioica.

Germ cells develop into eggs and sperms and represent a lineage that survives through multiple generations. Germ cell specification during embryogenesis proceeds through one of two basic modes: either the cell-autonomous mode or the inductive mode. In the cell-autonomous mode, specification of germ cell fate involves asymmetric partitioning of the specialized maternal cytoplasm, known as the germplasm.

Massive Gene Loss and Function Shuffling in Appendicularians Stretch the Boundaries of Chordate Wnt Family Evolution.

Gene loss is a pervasive source of genetic variation that influences species evolvability, biodiversity and the innovation of evolutionary adaptations. To better understand the evolutionary patterns and impact of gene loss, here we investigate as a case study the evolution of the wingless (Wnt) family in the appendicularian tunicate , an emergent EvoDevo model characterized by its proneness to lose genes among chordates. Genome survey and phylogenetic analyses reveal that only four of the thirteen Wnt subfamilies have survived in -Wnt5, Wnt10, Wnt11, and Wnt16,-representing the minimal Wnt repertoire described in chordates.

3D reconstruction of structures of hatched larva and young juvenile of the larvacean Oikopleura dioica using SBF-SEM.

The larvacean Oikopleura dioica is a planktonic chordate and an emerging model organism with a short life cycle of 5 days that belongs toTunicata (Urochordata), the sister clade of vertebrates. It is characterized by the rapid development of a tadpole-shaped body. Organ formation in the trunk proceeds within 7 h after the hatching of the tailbud larvae at 3 h after fertilization (hpf) and is completed at 10 hpf, giving rise to fully functional juveniles as miniature adult form.

Expression and Functional Analyses of Ectodermal Transcription Factors FoxJ-r, SoxF, and SP8/9 in Early Embryos of the Ascidian .

The spatiotemporal expression of zygotic genes is regulated by transcription factors, which mediate cell fate decision and morphogenesis. Investigation of the expression patterns and their transcriptional regulatory relationships is crucial to understand embryonic development. Staged RNA-seq of the ascidian has previously shown that nine genes encoding transcription factors are transiently expressed at the blastula stage, which is the stage at which cell fates are specified and differentiation starts.

Conservation of peripheral nervous system formation mechanisms in divergent ascidian embryos.

Ascidians with very similar embryos but highly divergent genomes are thought to have undergone extensive developmental system drift. We compared, in four species ( and for Phlebobranchia, and for Stolidobranchia), gene expression and gene regulation for a network of six transcription factors regulating peripheral nervous system (PNS) formation in . All genes, but one in , were expressed in the PNS with some differences correlating with phylogenetic distance.

Mouth opening is mediated by separation of dorsal and ventral daughter cells of the lip precursor cells in the larvacean, Oikopleura dioica.

Mouth formation involves the processes of mouth opening, formation of the oral cavity, and the development of associated sensory organs. In deuterostomes, the surface ectoderm and the anterior part of the archenteron are reconfigured and reconnected to make a mouth opening. This study of the larval development of the larvacean, Oikopleura dioica, investigates the cellular organization of the oral region, the developmental processes of the mouth, and the formation of associated sensory cells.

Prognostic impact of nutritional status and physical capacity in elderly patients with acute decompensated heart failure.

Aims: Nutritional status as well as physical capacity is related to prognosis in patients with heart failure. The purpose of this study was to explore a simple prognostic indicator in patients with acute decompensated heart failure (ADHF) by including both nutritional status and physical capacity.

Methods And Results: Patients hospitalized with ADHF (N = 203; mean age, 81 years) were enrolled.

A chordate species lacking utilizes calcium oscillation and for left-right patterning.

Larvaceans are chordates with a tadpole-like morphology. In contrast to most chordates of which early embryonic morphology is bilaterally symmetric and the left-right (L-R) axis is specified by the Nodal pathway later on, invariant L-R asymmetry emerges in four-cell embryos of larvaceans. The asymmetric cell arrangements exist through development of the tailbud.

Protein phosphatase 2A is essential to maintain meiotic arrest, and to prevent Ca burst at spawning and eventual parthenogenesis in the larvacean Oikopleura dioica.

Unfertilized eggs of most animals are arrested at a certain point in the meiotic cell cycles. Reinitiation of meiosis and the start of embryogenesis are triggered by fertilization. This arrest is essential for preventing parthenogenetic activation and for promoting proper initiation of development by fertilization.

ANISEED 2019: 4D exploration of genetic data for an extended range of tunicates.

ANISEED (https://www.aniseed.cnrs.

Relation of Chronic Total Occlusion to In-Hospital Mortality in the Patients With Sudden Cardiac Arrest Due to Acute Coronary Syndrome.

Although the presence of chronic total occlusion (CTO) has been associated with long-term mortality in the patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction, the influence of having CTO on in-hospital mortality in sudden cardiac arrest (SCA)-acute coronary syndrome (ACS) patients has not been reported. Therefore, we examined the association between the presence of CTO and in-hospital mortality in those patients. Consecutive 106 SCA-ACS patients who received coronary angiography were retrospectively included.

Vitelline membrane proteins promote left-sided nodal expression after neurula rotation in the ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi.

Stereotyped left-right asymmetry both in external and internal organization is found in various animals. Left-right symmetry is broken by the neurula rotation in the ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi. Neurula embryos rotate along the anterior-posterior axis in a counterclockwise direction, and the rotation stops when the left side of the embryo is oriented downwards, resulting in contact of the left-side epidermis with the vitelline membrane at the bottom of perivitelline space.

Wavy movements of epidermis monocilia drive the neurula rotation that determines left-right asymmetry in ascidian embryos.

Tadpole larvae of the ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi, show morphological left-right asymmetry in the brain structures and the orientation of tail bending within the vitelline membrane. Neurula embryos rotate along the anterior-posterior axis in a counterclockwise direction, and then this rotation stops when the left side of the embryo is oriented downwards. Contact of the left-side epidermis with the vitelline membrane promotes nodal gene expression in the left-side epidermis.

Wnt evolution and function shuffling in liberal and conservative chordate genomes.

Background: What impact gene loss has on the evolution of developmental processes, and how function shuffling has affected retained genes driving essential biological processes, remain open questions in the fields of genome evolution and EvoDevo. To investigate these problems, we have analyzed the evolution of the Wnt ligand repertoire in the chordate phylum as a case study.

Results: We conduct an exhaustive survey of Wnt genes in genomic databases, identifying 156 Wnt genes in 13 non-vertebrate chordates.

Control of Pem protein level by localized maternal factors for transcriptional regulation in the germline of the ascidian, Halocynthia roretzi.

Localized maternal mRNAs play important roles in embryogenesis, e.g. the establishment of embryonic axes and the developmental cell fate specification, in various animal species.

ANISEED 2017: extending the integrated ascidian database to the exploration and evolutionary comparison of genome-scale datasets.

ANISEED (www.aniseed.cnrs.