Synchondrosis fusion contributes to the progression of postnatal craniofacial dysmorphology in syndromic craniosynostosis.

Syndromic craniosynostosis (CS) patients exhibit early, bony fusion of calvarial sutures and cranial synchondroses, resulting in craniofacial dysmorphology. In this study, we chronologically evaluated skull morphology change after abnormal fusion of the sutures and synchondroses in mouse models of syndromic CS for further understanding of the disease. We found fusion of the inter-sphenoid synchondrosis (ISS) in Apert syndrome model mice (Fgfr2 ) around 3 weeks old as seen in Crouzon syndrome model mice (Fgfr2c ).

Classification of large-scale image database of various skin diseases using deep learning.

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to develop a deep learning-based computer-aided diagnosis system for skin disease classification using photographic images of patients. The targets are 59 skin diseases, including localized and diffuse diseases captured by photographic cameras, resulting in highly diverse images in terms of the appearance of the diseases or photographic conditions.

Methods: ResNet-18 is used as a baseline model for classification and is reinforced by metric learning to boost generalization in classification by avoiding the overfitting of the training data and increasing the reliability of CADx for dermatologists.

ELAVL2-directed RNA regulatory network drives the formation of quiescent primordial follicles.

Formation of primordial follicles is a fundamental, early process in mammalian oogenesis. However, little is known about the underlying mechanisms. We herein report that the RNA-binding proteins ELAVL2 and DDX6 are indispensable for the formation of quiescent primordial follicles in mouse ovaries.

GBIQ: a non-arbitrary, non-biased method for quantification of fluorescent images.

Non-arbitrary and non-biased quantification of fluorescent images is an essential tool for the data-centric approach to biological systems. Typical application is high-content analysis, where various phenotypic changes in cellular components and/or morphology are measured from fluorescent image data. A standard protocol to detect cellular phenotypes is cell-segmentation, in which boundaries of cellular components, such as cell nucleus and plasma membrane, are first identified to define cell segments, then acquiring various phenotypic data of each segment.

Segmental border is defined by Ripply2-mediated Tbx6 repression independent of Mesp2.

The precise border of somites formed during mouse somitogenesis is defined by a Tbx6 expression domain, which is established by Mesp2-mediated Tbx6 suppression in the anterior part of the presomitic mesoderm (PSM). Ripply2, a target of Mesp2, is proposed to be involved in this down-regulation because Ripply2 deficiency causes an anterior expansion of the Tbx6 domain, resembling the Mesp2-null phenotype. However, it is unclear whether Ripply2 acts on Tbx6 independently or in association with Mesp2.

Subcellular distribution of mitochondrial ribosomal RNA in the mouse oocyte and zygote.

Mitochondrial ribosomal RNAs (mtrRNAs) have been reported to translocate extra-mitochondrially and localize to the germ cell determinant of oocytes and zygotes in some metazoa except mammals. To address whether the mtrRNAs also localize in the mammals, expression and distribution of mitochondrion-encoded RNAs in the mouse oocytes and zygotes was examined by whole-mount in situ hybridization (ISH). Both 12S and 16S rRNAs were predominantly distributed in the animal hemisphere of the mature oocyte.

Experimental analysis of the transdifferentiation of visceral to parietal endoderm in the mouse.

The visceral endoderm (VE) of isolated extraembryonic regions (ExEmbs) of 7 days postcoitum (dpc) prestreak mouse conceptuses have been shown to convert readily to parietal endoderm (PE). The present study addresses the following three unanswered questions. On what does conversion depend, how rapidly does it occur, and is it an enduring general property of a residual small population of relatively immature cells? In situ hybridization reveals that change in cell state occurs within 2 days of culture.

Disappearance of epidermal growth factor receptor is essential in the fusion of the nasal epithelium.

Abstract Epidermal growth factor (EGF) and receptor (-R) signaling pathway is required for epithelial cell growth and differentiation such as the degeneration of the medial edge epithelial cells during the fusion process of secondary palate formation. As epithelial fusion takes place during primary palate formation, we investigated the involvement of the EGF-R in fusion of the medial (MNP) and lateral (LNP) nasal prominences of the mouse embryo was examined. Immunoreactivity of EGF-R was investigated in embryonic day 10 embryos (32-37 somite stages).

Rhombomere formation and hind-brain crest cell migration from prorhombomeric origins in mouse embryos.

Prior to rhombomere development, structures called prorhombomeres appear in the mammalian hindbrain. This study clarifies the developmental relationship between prorhombomeres and their descendent rhombomeres and hindbrain crest cells in mouse embryos by focal dye injections at various levels of prorhombomere A (proRhA), proRhB, and proRhC, as well as at their boundaries. ProRhA gives rise to two rhombomeres, rhombomeres 1 and 2 (r1 and r2), as well as to crest cells that migrate into the first pharyngeal arch, including the trigeminal ganglion.