Systemic coordination of whole-body tissue remodeling during local regeneration in sea anemones.

The complexity of regeneration extends beyond local wound responses, eliciting systemic processes across the entire organism. However, the functional relevance and coordination of distant molecular processes remain unclear. In the cnidarian Nematostella vectensis, we show that local regeneration triggers a systemic homeostatic response, leading to coordinated whole-body remodeling.

A timer gene network is spatially regulated by the terminal system in the embryo.

In insect embryos, anteroposterior patterning is coordinated by the sequential expression of the 'timer' genes , and , whose expression dynamics correlate with the mode of segmentation. In , the timer genes are expressed broadly across much of the blastoderm, which segments simultaneously, but their expression is delayed in a small 'tail' region, just anterior to the hindgut, which segments during germband extension. Specification of the tail and the hindgut depends on the terminal gap gene , but beyond this the regulation of the timer genes is poorly understood.

The neuroblast timer gene nubbin exhibits functional redundancy with gap genes to regulate segment identity in Tribolium.

The neuroblast timer genes hunchback, Krüppel, nubbin and castor are expressed in temporal sequence in neural stem cells, and in corresponding spatial sequence along the Drosophila blastoderm. As canonical gap genes, hunchback and Krüppel play a crucial role in insect segmentation, but the roles of nubbin and castor in this process remain ambiguous. We have investigated the expression and functions of nubbin and castor during segmentation in the beetle Tribolium.

Functional analysis of sense organ specification in the Tribolium castaneum larva reveals divergent mechanisms in insects.

Insects and other arthropods utilise external sensory structures for mechanosensory, olfactory, and gustatory reception. These sense organs have characteristic shapes related to their function, and in many cases are distributed in a fixed pattern so that they are identifiable individually. In Drosophila melanogaster, the identity of sense organs is regulated by specific combinations of transcription factors.

Effect of Process Parameters and Material Properties on Laser Micromachining of Microchannels.

Laser micromachining has emerged as a promising technique for mass production of microfluidic devices. However, control and optimization of process parameters, and design of substrate materials are still ongoing challenges for the widespread application of laser micromachining. This article reports a systematic study on the effect of laser system parameters and thermo-physical properties of substrate materials on laser micromachining.

A revised understanding of Tribolium morphogenesis further reconciles short and long germ development.

In Drosophila melanogaster, the germband forms directly on the egg surface and solely consists of embryonic tissue. In contrast, most insect embryos undergo a complicated set of tissue rearrangements to generate a condensed, multilayered germband. The ventral side of the germband is embryonic, while the dorsal side is thought to be an extraembryonic tissue called the amnion.

An extensive allelic series of Drosophila kae1 mutants reveals diverse and tissue-specific requirements for t6A biogenesis.

N(6)-threonylcarbamoyl-adenosine (t6A) is one of the few RNA modifications that is universally present in life. This modification occurs at high frequency at position 37 of most tRNAs that decode ANN codons, and stabilizes cognate anticodon-codon interactions. Nearly all genetic studies of the t6A pathway have focused on single-celled organisms.

Innexin7a forms junctions that stabilize the basal membrane during cellularization of the blastoderm in Tribolium castaneum.

In insects, the fertilized egg undergoes a series of rapid nuclear divisions before the syncytial blastoderm starts to cellularize. Cellularization has been extensively studied in Drosophila melanogaster, but its thick columnar blastoderm is unusual among insects. We therefore set out to describe cellularization in the beetle Tribolium castaneum, the embryos of which exhibit a thin blastoderm of cuboidal cells, like most insects.

Tribolium embryo morphogenesis: may the force be with you.

Development of multicellular organisms depends on patterning and growth mechanisms encoded in the genome, but also on the physical properties and mechanical interactions of the constituent cells that interpret these genetic cues. This fundamental biological problem requires integrated studies at multiple levels of biological organization: from genes, to cell behaviors, to tissue morphogenesis. We have recently combined functional genetics with live imaging approaches in embryos of the insect Tribolium castaneum, in order to understand their remarkable transformation from a uniform single-layered blastoderm into a condensed multi-layered embryo covered by extensive extra-embryonic tissues.

Canonical terminal patterning is an evolutionary novelty.

Patterning of the terminal regions of the Drosophila embryo is achieved by an exquisitely regulated signal that passes between the follicle cells of the ovary, and the developing embryo. This pathway, however, is missing or modified in other insects. Here we trace the evolution of this pathway by examining the origins and expression of its components.

Neutrophil myeloperoxidase chlorinates and nitrates soy isoflavones and enhances their antioxidant properties.

Soy isoflavones and other polyphenolics have a number of potentially important beneficial effects on the pro-oxidant aspects of chronic inflammation. The impact of inflammatory cell-specific metabolism of polyphenolics, which can include halogenation and nitration, on the properties of these compounds has not been examined. Using either human neutrophils or differentiated human leukemia cells (HL-60) stimulated with phorbol ester to elicit a respiratory burst, the hypothesis that local generation of reactive oxygen and nitrogen species may metabolize and modify the biological properties of the soy isoflavones was examined.