It was previously demonstrated that transforming growth factor β (TGF-β) induces endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT) in murine lung endothelial cells (ECs) in vitro. Owing to the important role of caveolin-1 (CAV1) in TGF-β receptor internalization and TGF-β signaling, the participation of CAV1 in the induction of EndoMT in murine lung ECs was investigated. Pulmonary ECs were isolate...

Neural crest cells originate in the dorsal neural tube but subsequently undergo an epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT), delaminate, and migrate to diverse locations in the embryo where they contribute to a variety of derivatives. Cadherins are a family of cell-cell adhesion molecules expressed in a broad range of embryonic tissues, including the neural tube. In particular, cadherin6B (Ca...

RATIONALE Formation of heart valves requires early endocardial to mesenchymal transformation (EMT) to generate valve mesenchyme and subsequent endocardial cell proliferation to elongate valve leaflets. Nfatc1 (nuclear factor of activated T cells, cytoplasmic 1) is highly expressed in valve endocardial cells and is required for normal valve formation, but its role in the fate of valve endocardia...

In a previous study, we found that microRNA (miRNA)-200a suppresses Wnt/β-catenin signaling by interacting with β-catenin, thereby inhibiting migration, invasion and proliferation. However, the mechanism involved in this suppression remains unclear. In the present study, we investigated the underlying mechanism of miR-200a regulation of epithelial...

Colonization of trunk neural crest derivatives in avians follows a ventral to dorsal order beginning with sympathetic ganglia, Schwann cells, sensory ganglia and finally melanocytes. Continuous crest emigration underlies this process, which is accounted for by a progressive ventral to dorsal relocation of neural tube progenitors prior to departure. This causes a gradual narrowing of FoxD3, Sox9...

Rhesus monkey embryonic stem (rhES) cells were grown on mouse embryonic fibroblast (MEF) feeder layers for up to 10 days to form multilayered colonies. Within this period, stem cell colonies differentiated transiently into complex structures with a disc-like morphology. These complex colonies were characterized by morphology, immunohistochemistry, and marker mRNA expression to identify processe...

Studies on the role of the E-box binding transcription factor Snail2 (Slug) in the induction of neural crest by mesoderm (Shi et al., 2011) revealed an unexpected increase in the level of sizzled RNA in the dorsolateral mesodermal zone (DMLZ) of morphant Xenopus embryos. sizzled encodes a secreted protein with both Wnt and BMP inhibitor activities. Morpholino-mediated down-regulation of sizzled...

Transcription factors of the Snail family are key regulators of epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT). In many processes during development or disease, cells do not acquire all the characteristics associated with EMT, leading to what we refer to as partial EMT (p-EMT). However, little is known of the implications of the Snail transcription factors in processes that only involve a p-EMT. To as...

Neuroblastoma is an embryonic tumor derived from cells of the neural crest. Taking advantage of a newly developed neural crest lineage tracer and based on the hypothesis that the molecular mechanisms that mediate neural crest delamination are also likely to be involved in the spread of neuroblastoma, we were able to identify genes that are active both in neural crest development and neuroblasto...

In the prospective lumbo-sacral region of the chick embryo, neurulation is achieved by cavitation of the medullary cord, a process called secondary neurulation. Neural crest cells (NCC) are generated in this region and they give rise to the same types of derivatives as in more rostral parts of the trunk where neurulation occurs by dorsal fusion of the neural plate borders (primary neurulation)....