The neural crest comprises multipotent precursor cells that are induced at the neural plate border by a series of complex signaling and genetic interactions. Several transcription factors, termed neural crest specifiers, are necessary for early neural crest development; however, the nature of their interactions and regulation is not well understood. Here, we have established that the PR/SET dom...

Developmental gene expression programmes are coordinated by the specialized distal cis-regulatory elements called enhancers, which integrate lineage- and signalling-dependent inputs to guide morphogenesis. In previous work, we characterized the genome-wide repertoire of active enhancers in human neural crest cells (hNCC), an embryonic cell population with critical roles in craniofacial developm...

The present study identified miR-638 as one of the most significantly overexpressed miRNAs in metastatic lesions of melanomas compared with primary melanomas. miR-638 enhanced the tumorigenic properties of melanoma cells in vitro and lung colonization in vivo. mRNA expression profiling identified new candidate genes including TP53INP2 as miR-638 targets, the majority of which are involved in p5...

To elucidate the molecular basis of BMP4-induced differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs) toward progeny with trophectoderm characteristics, we produced transcriptome, epigenome H3K4me3, H3K27me3, and CpG methylation maps of trophoblast progenitors, purified using the surface marker APA. We combined them with the temporally resolved transcriptome of the preprogenitor phase and of ...

Abstract Study question What is the effect of CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knock-out trophectoderm markers TFAP2A/C on polarization and lineage commitment in mouse? Summary answer KO revealed discrepancies function, wherein TFAP2C dispensable for blastocyst formation but controls segregation transcription factors mouse embryo. known already an important factor that expressed solely (TE) mouse, both TE ...

Failure of facial prominence fusion causes cleft lip and palate (CL/P), a common human birth defect. Several potential mechanisms can be envisioned that would result in CL/P, including failure of prominence growth and/or alignment as well as a failure of fusion of the juxtaposed epithelial seams. Here, using geometric morphometrics, we analyzed facial outgrowth and shape change over time in a n...

Multiple lines of evidence indicate that the AP-2 transcription factor family has an important regulatory function in human craniofacial development. Notably, mutations in TFAP2A, the gene encoding AP-2α, have been identified in patients with Branchio-Oculo-Facial Syndrome (BOFS). BOFS is an autosomal-dominant trait that commonly presents with facial clefting, eye defects and branchial skin ano...

The effect of 5-fluorouracil (5-FU) chemotherapy for gastric cancer (GC) is limited by drug-resistance. To conquer this drug-resistance, various treatments including combination therapy have been used, but the overall survival has not been improved yet. In our current study, 5-FU resistant GC cells, SGC7901/FU and MGC803/FU, were established by long term exposure to 5-FU, and the proliferation ...

Sertoli cells are essential for regulating normal spermatogenesis. However, the mechanisms underlying human Sertoli cell development remain largely elusive. Here we examined the function and signaling pathways of BMP6 in regulating human Sertoli cells. RT-PCR, immunocytochemistry and Western blots revealed that BMP6 and its multiple receptors were expressed in human Sertoli cells. CCK-8 and EDU...

Eukaryotic genomes are transcribed into numerous regulatory long non-coding RNAs (lncRNAs). Compared to mRNAs, lncRNAs display higher developmental stage-, tissue-, and cell-subtype-specificity of expression, and are generally less abundant in a population of cells. Despite the progress in single-cell-focused research, the origins of low population-level expression of lncRNAs in homogeneous pop...