Limits of immersion-free recording of holographic waveguide displays.

This Letter discusses the limitations of immersion-free recording schemes for holographic waveguide displays. Traditional holographic recording of waveguides requires recording angles exceeding the critical angle of the hologram-cladding interface. Achieving these angles necessitates edge-lit exposure using prisms and immersion liquids, which are challenging for roll-to-roll mass production and hinder widespread adoption.

Restricted differentiative capacity of Wt1-expressing peritoneal mesothelium in postnatal and adult mice.

Previously, genetic lineage tracing based on the mesothelial marker Wt1, appeared to show that peritoneal mesothelial cells have a range of differentiative capacities and are the direct progenitors of vascular smooth muscle in the intestine. However, it was not clear whether this was a temporally limited process or continued throughout postnatal life. Here, using a conditional Wt1-based genetic lineage tracing approach, we demonstrate that the postnatal and adult peritoneum covering intestine, mesentery and body wall only maintained itself and failed to contribute to other visceral tissues.

Functional molecules in mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition revealed by transcriptome analyses.

Peritoneal fibrosis is a common complication of abdominal and pelvic surgery, and can also be triggered by peritoneal dialysis, resulting in treatment failure. In these settings, fibrosis is driven by activated myofibroblasts that are considered to be partly derived by mesothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (MMT). We hypothesized that, if the molecular signature of MMT could be better defined, these insights could be exploited to block this pathological cellular transition.

Characterisation of multiple regulatory domains spanning the major transcriptional start site of the FUS gene, a candidate gene for motor neurone disease.

Fused-In-Sarcoma (FUS) is a candidate gene for neurological disorders including motor neurone disease and Parkinson׳s disease in addition to various types of cancer. Recently it has been reported that over expression of FUS causes motor neurone disease in mouse models hence mutations leading to changes in gene expression may contribute to the development of neurodegenerative disease. Genome evolutionary conservation was used to predict important cis-acting DNA regulators of the FUS gene promoter that direct transcription.

An evaluation of a SVA retrotransposon in the FUS promoter as a transcriptional regulator and its association to ALS.

Genetic mutations of FUS have been linked to many diseases including Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemporal Lobar Degeneration. A primate specific and polymorphic retrotransposon of the SINE-VNTR-Alu (SVA) family is present upstream of the FUS gene. Here we have demonstrated that this retrotransposon can act as a classical transcriptional regulatory domain in the context of a reporter gene construct both in vitro in the human SK-N-AS neuroblastoma cell line and in vivo in a chick embryo model.

Loss of col8a1a function during zebrafish embryogenesis results in congenital vertebral malformations.

Congenital vertebral malformations (CVM) occur in 1 in 1000 live births and in many cases can cause spinal deformities, such as scoliosis, and result in disability and distress of affected individuals. Many severe forms of the disease, such as spondylocostal dystostosis, are recessive monogenic traits affecting somitogenesis, however the etiologies of the majority of CVM cases remain undetermined. Here we demonstrate that morphological defects of the notochord in zebrafish can generate congenital-type spine defects.

Apelin and its receptor control heart field formation during zebrafish gastrulation.

The vertebrate heart arises during gastrulation as cardiac precursors converge from the lateral plate mesoderm territories toward the embryonic midline and extend rostrally to form bilateral heart fields. G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) mediate functions of the nervous and immune systems; however, their roles in gastrulation remain largely unexplored. Here, we show that the zebrafish homologs of the Agtrl1b receptor and its ligand, Apelin, implicated in physiology and angiogenesis, control heart field formation.

Atp7a determines a hierarchy of copper metabolism essential for notochord development.

The critical developmental and genetic requirements of copper metabolism during embryogenesis are unknown. Utilizing a chemical genetic screen in zebrafish, we identified small molecules that perturb copper homeostasis. Our findings reveal a role for copper in notochord formation and demonstrate a hierarchy of copper metabolism within the embryo.

Essential roles of a zebrafish prdm1/blimp1 homolog in embryo patterning and organogenesis.

During vertebrate development the dorsal gastrula or Spemann-Mangold organizer orchestrates axis formation largely by limiting the ventralizing and posteriorizing activity of bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs). In mouse and Xenopus laevis, genes encoding the zinc finger transcriptional repressor Prdm1/Blimp1 (PR domain containing 1, with ZNF domain; previously named B lymphocyte-induced maturation protein 1) were recently shown to be expressed in the visceral endoderm and anterior endomesoderm, respectively, and the prechordal plate of gastrula stage embryos. Later in development Prdm1/Blimp1 is expressed in many other tissues, including pharyngeal arches, limb buds, otic vesicles, photoreceptor cell layer, slow muscle and cloaca.

The zebrafish buttonhead-like factor Bts1 is an early regulator of pax2.1 expression during mid-hindbrain development.

Little is known about the factors that control the specification of the mid-hindbrain domain (MHD) within the vertebrate embryonic neural plate. Because the head-trunk junction of the Drosophila embryo and the MHD have patterning similarities, we have searched for vertebrate genes related to the Drosophila head gap gene buttonhead (btd), which in the fly specifies the head-trunk junction. We report here the identification of a zebrafish gene which, like btd, encodes a zinc-finger transcriptional activator of the Sp-1 family (hence its name, bts1 for btd/Sp-related-1) and shows a restricted expression in the head.

Wnt8 is required in lateral mesendodermal precursors for neural posteriorization in vivo.

The dorsal ectoderm of the vertebrate gastrula was proposed by Nieuwkoop to be specified towards an anterior neural fate by an activation signal, with its subsequent regionalization along the anteroposterior (AP) axis regulated by a graded transforming activity, leading to a properly patterned forebrain, midbrain, hindbrain and spinal cord. The activation phase involves inhibition of BMP signals by dorsal antagonists, but the later caudalization process is much more poorly characterized. Explant and overexpression studies in chick, Xenopus, mouse and zebrafish implicate lateral/paraxial mesoderm in supplying the transforming influence, which is largely speculated to be a Wnt family member.

Functional interaction of vega2 and goosecoid homeobox genes in zebrafish.

The gastrula organizer forms in the dorsal region of the zebrafish embryo, where the bozozok/dharma homeobox gene downregulates expression of the vega1 transcriptional repressor. Here, we describe a novel Vega family homeobox gene, vega2. Expression of vega2 is initiated at the ventral blastoderm margin during blastula stages, and by gastrulation becomes complementary to but partially overlapping with the dorsal expression domain of the homeobox gene goosecoid (gsc).

Antagonistic role of vega1 and bozozok/dharma homeobox genes in organizer formation.

During zebrafish development, zygotic gene expression initiated at the midblastula transition converts maternal information on embryo polarity into a transcriptional read-out. Expression of a homeobox gene, vega1, is activated at midblastula transition in all blastomeres, but is down-regulated dorsally before gastrulation. Ubiquitous expression of vega1 is maintained in bozozok mutants, in which the dorsal-specific homeobox gene bozozok/dharma (boz/dha) is disrupted and organizer formation is impaired.

Ballistic transformation of Caenorhabditis elegans.

A novel method to transform the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans is described. DNA coprecipitated with gold particles is shot at worms by means of a helium beam. Transformed worms are either identified by a dominant visible marker or selected by a conditional lethal system.