Publications by authors named "M Asashima"
The zinc finger and BTB domain-containing 11 gene (zbtb11) is expressed in the Xenopus anterior neuroectoderm, but the molecular nature of the Zbtb11 protein during embryonic development remains to be elucidated. Here, we show the role of Zbtb11 in anterior patterning of the neuroectoderm and the cooperative action with the transcription factor Otx2. Both overexpression and knockdown of zbtb11 caused similar phenotypes: expanded expression of the posterior gene gbx2 in the neural plate, and later microcephaly with reduced eyes, suggesting that a proper level of zbtb11 expression is necessary for normal patterning of the neuroectoderm, including eye formation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: Documenting the grant acquisition characteristics of a highly selective group of researchers could provide insights into the research and faculty development of talented individuals, and the insights gained to foster such researchers will help university management strengthen their research capacity.
Objective: This study examines the role of human connections in the success of biomedical researchers in Japanese universities.
Methods: This study used grant data from the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research (GIA) program, the largest competitive research funding program in Japan, to collect information on projects and their implementation systems obtained throughout the participants' careers.
The discovery of the Spemann-Mangold organizer strongly influenced subsequent research on embryonic induction, with research aiming to elucidate the molecular characteristics of organizer activity being currently underway. Herein, we review the history of research on embryonic induction, and describe how the mechanisms of induction phenomena and developmental processes have been investigated. Classical experiments investigating the differentiation capacity and inductive activity of various embryonic regions were conducted by many researchers, and important theories of region-specific induction and the concept for chain of induction were proposed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFArticle Synopsis
- Embryo contour extraction is crucial for analyzing embryo morphology and understanding development, particularly with advancements in light-sheet microscopy for imaging embryos like zebrafish.
- Recent challenges in extracting embryo contours from light-sheet images are addressed by a new workflow using edge detection and change point detection that does not require contour labeling.
- This method outperforms traditional edge detection techniques in both accuracy and noise robustness, making it a valuable tool for automated contour extraction in situations where other methods, like deep learning approaches, are not feasible.