During vertebrate development, signaling by the TGFbeta ligand Nodal is critical for mesoderm formation, correct positioning of the anterior-posterior axis, normal anterior and midline patterning, and left-right asymmetric development of the heart and viscera. Stimulation of Alk4/EGF-CFC receptor complexes by Nodal activates Smad2/3, leading to left-sided expression of target genes that promote asymmetric placement of certain internal organs. We identified Ttrap as a novel Alk4- and Smad3-interacting protein that controls gastrulation movements and left-right axis determination in zebrafish. Morpholino-mediated Ttrap knockdown increases Smad3 activity, leading to ectopic expression of snail1a and apparent repression of e-cadherin, thereby perturbing cell movements during convergent extension, epiboly and node formation. Thus, although the role of Smad proteins in mediating Nodal signaling is well-documented, the functional characterization of Ttrap provides insight into a novel Smad partner that plays an essential role in the fine-tuning of this signal transduction cascade.
Download full-text PDF |
Source |
|---|---|
| http://dx.doi.org/10.1242/dev.000026 | DOI Listing |
Publication Analysis
Top Keywords
Similar Publications
Analysis of junctional beats during slow pathway ablation: Illuminating the mechanism of typical and atypical AV nodal re-entrant tachycardia.
Heart Rhythm O2
December 2024
Department of Cardiovascular Medicine, Kyorin University School of Medicine, Mitaka, Japan.
Background: Junctional rhythm (JR) frequently occurs during radiofrequency (RF) ablation procedures targeting the slow pathway (SP) for atrioventricular nodal re-entrant tachycardia (AVNRT), signaling successful ablation. Two types of JR have been noticed: typical JR as His activation preceding atrial activation, and atypical JR as atrial activation preceding the His activation. Nevertheless, the origin and characteristics of JR remain incompletely defined.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFunction of nodal cilia in left-right determination: Mechanical regulation in initiation of symmetry breaking.
Biophys Physicobiol
September 2024
Department of Cell Biology, The University of Tokyo, Bunkyo-ku, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan.
Visceral organs in vertebrates are arranged with left-right asymmetry; for example, the heart is located on the left side of the body. Cilia at the node of mouse early embryos play an essential role in determining this left-right asymmetry. Using information from the anteroposterior axis, motile cilia at the central region of the node generate leftward nodal flow.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh glucose couples DJ-1 with PTEN to activate PDGFRβ for renal proximal tubular cell injury.
PLoS One
January 2025
VA Research, Education and Clinical Center, South Texas Veterans Health Care System, San Antonio, Texas, United States of America.
Article Synopsis
- The study investigates how high glucose levels in diabetes lead to kidney cell damage through the activation of a signaling pathway involving DJ-1 and PTEN.
- DJ-1 is found to be upregulated in kidney cells under high glucose conditions, which triggers the Akt/mTORC1 signaling pathway, resulting in cell growth and fibrosis.
- The research indicates that inhibiting DJ-1 can prevent glucose-induced cell growth and damage, while overexpressing DJ-1 replicates the harmful effects, highlighting its role in renal injury related to diabetes.
Multipocket synergy towards high thermoelectric performance in topological semimetal TaAs.
Nat Commun
January 2025
Max Planck Institute for Chemical Physics of Solids, Nöthnitzer Str. 40, Dresden, Germany.
Charge-carrier compensation in topological semimetals amplifies the Nernst signal and simultaneously degrades the Seebeck coefficient. In this study, we report the simultaneous achievement of both a large Nernst signal and an unsaturating magneto-Seebeck coefficient in a topological nodal-line semimetal TaAs single crystal. The unique dual-high transverse and longitudinal thermopowers are attributed to multipocket synergy effects: the combination of a strong phonon-drag effect and the two overlapping highly dispersive conduction and valence bands with electron-hole compensation and high mobility, promising a large Nernst effect; the third Dirac band causes a large magneto-Seebeck effect.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFModeling the interplay between regional heterogeneity and critical dynamics underlying brain functional networks.
Neural Netw
December 2024
School of Physical Science and Technology, Lanzhou Center for Theoretical Physics, Key Laboratory of Theoretical Physics of Gansu Province, and Key Laboratory of Quantum Theory and Applications of MoE, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu 730000, China. Electronic address:
The human brain exhibits heterogeneity across regions and network connectivity patterns; However, how these heterogeneities contribute to whole-brain network functions and cognitive capacities remains unclear. In this study, we focus on the regional heterogeneity reflected in local dynamics and study how it contributes to the emergence of functional connectivity patterns, network ignition dynamics of the empirical brains. We find that the level of synchrony among voxelwise neural activities measured from the fMRI data is significantly correlated with the transcriptional variations in excitatory and inhibitory receptor gene expression.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWant AI Summaries of new PubMed Abstracts delivered to your In-box?
Enter search terms and have AI summaries delivered each week - change queries or unsubscribe any time!