The thymus is extremely sensitive to damage but also has a remarkable ability to repair itself. However, the mechanisms underlying this endogenous regeneration remain poorly understood and this capacity diminishes considerably with age. To identify alternate regeneration pathways in the thymus, we performed an unbiased transcriptome analysis of the non-hematopoietic (CD45-) stromal cell compartment of the thymus, which is less sensitive to thymic damage compared to the CD45+ hematopoietic compartment.
Production of BMP4 by endothelial cells is crucial for endogenous thymic regeneration.
Sex, Specimen part
View SamplesThe p53 family is known as a family of transcription factors with functions in tumor suppression and development. Whereas the central DNA binding domain is highly conserved among the three family members p53, p63 and p73, the C-terminal domains (CTDs) are diverse and subject to alternative splicing and post-translational modification. Here we demonstrate that the CTDs strongly influence DNA binding and transcriptional activity. While p53 and the p73 isoform p73gamma have basic CTDs and form weak sequence-specific protein-DNA complexes, the major p73 isoforms alpha, beta and delta have neutral CTDs and bind DNA strongly. A basic CTD has been previously shown to enable sliding along the DNA backbone and to facilitate the search for binding sites in the complex genome. Our experiments, however, reveal that a basic CTD also reduces protein-DNA complex stability, intranuclear mobility, promoter occupancy in vivo, transgene activation and induction of cell cycle arrest or apoptosis. A basic CTD in p53 and p73gamma therefore provides both positive and negative regulatory functions presumably to enable rapid switching of protein activity in response to stress. In contrast, most p73 isoforms exhibit constitutive DNA binding activity consistent with a predominant role in developmental control.
C-terminal diversity within the p53 family accounts for differences in DNA binding and transcriptional activity.
No sample metadata fields
View SamplesDuring mammalian gastrulation, pluripotent epiblast stem cells migrate through the primitive streak to form the multipotent progenitors of the mesoderm and endoderm germ layers. Msgn1 is a bHLH transcription factor and is a direct target gene of the Wnt/bcatenin signaling pathway. Msgn1 is expressed in the mesodermal compartment of the primitive streak and is necessary for the proper development of the mesoderm. Msgn1 mutants show defects in somitogenesis leading to a lack of trunk skeletal muscles, vertebra and ribs.
The Wnt3a/β-catenin target gene Mesogenin1 controls the segmentation clock by activating a Notch signalling program.
Specimen part, Treatment
View SamplesThe goal of this project was to elucidate the target genes and transcriptional networks activated by Wnt3a during gastrulation, a complex morphogenetic process in which the embryonic germ layers are formed and the vertebrate body plan is established.
The Wnt3a/β-catenin target gene Mesogenin1 controls the segmentation clock by activating a Notch signalling program.
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View SamplesObjectives: To identify similarities and differences in gene expression data in the MEK/ERK and PI3K pathways and to determine how histone modification affects these same pathways. Goal: To identify and functionally characterize novel targets of these signaling pathways in the context of chondrocyte differentiation.
Regulation of gene expression by PI3K in mouse growth plate chondrocytes.
Specimen part
View SamplesTo investigate the early host response triggered by three different strains of Trypanosoma cruzi at a local infection site, changes in host gene expression were monitored in a murine intradermal infection model using Affymetrix oligonucleotide arrays. Robust induction of IFN-stimulated genes (ISGs) was observed in excised skin 24 hours post-infection where the level of ISG induction was parasite strain-dependent with the least virulent strain triggering a muted IFN response. Infection of mice immunodepleted of IFN-producing cells or infection of IFN-deficient mice had minimal impact on the IFN response generated in T. cruzi infected mice. In contrast, infection of mice lacking the type I IFN receptor demonstrated that type I IFNs are largely responsible for the IFN response generated at the site of infection. These data highlight type I IFNs as important components of the innate immune response to T. cruzi the site of inoculation and their role in shaping the early transcriptional response to this pathogen.
Trypanosoma cruzi triggers an early type I IFN response in vivo at the site of intradermal infection.
No sample metadata fields
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