Soluble factors from neocortical astrocytes enhance neuronal differentiation of neural progenitor cells from adult rat hippocampus on micropatterned polymer substrates.

Rat adult hippocampal progenitor cells (AHPCs) are self-renewing, multipotent neural progenitors that have the ability to differentiate into neurons and glia. Previously, we demonstrated that coculture of AHPCs with postnatal day 2, type 1 cortical astrocytes on laminin-coated micropatterned polymer substrates facilitates selective neuronal differentiation of the AHPCs (Recknor et al., Biomaterials 2006;27:4098-4108).

Distinct biphasic mRNA changes in response to Asian soybean rust infection.

Asian soybean rust (ASR), caused by Phakopsora pachyrhizi, is now established in all major soybean-producing countries. Currently, there is little information about the molecular basis of ASR-soybean interactions, which will be needed to assist future efforts to develop effective resistance. Toward this end, abundance changes of soybean mRNAs were measured over a 7-day ASR infection time course in mock-inoculated and infected leaves of a soybean accession (PI230970) carrying the Rpp2 resistance gene and a susceptible genotype (Embrapa-48).

Transcriptional profiling of myostatin-knockout mice implicates Wnt signaling in postnatal skeletal muscle growth and hypertrophy.

Myostatin is an inhibitor of skeletal muscle growth. Disruption of the Mstn gene in mice results in muscles that weigh two to three times those of controls, but precisely how myostatin signals to exert its effects on muscle is unclear. We used the Affymetrix GeneChip system to identify differences in gene expression between myostatin null and wild-type mice.

Transcriptional profiling using a novel cDNA array identifies differential gene expression during porcine embryo elongation.

A novel porcine cDNA array, containing 1,015 PCR products selected for embryonic expression, was used for transcriptional profiling of conceptuses at four stages of peri-implantation development. Total conceptus RNA from small spherical, large spherical, tubular, and filamentous stages was amplified, converted to cDNA, and hybridized to membranes. Initially, normalized signal intensities obtained using cDNA from total RNA or from amplified RNA were compared.