1
|
Manssur TSB, Sebastião TRC, Franchi FF, Dos Santos PH, Razza EM, Nunes SG, Castilho ACDS, Fontes PK. Pre-fertilization approach using α-l-fucosidase modulates zona pellucida hardening during bovine in vitro embryo production. Vet Res Commun 2024; 48:1135-1147. [PMID: 38191818 DOI: 10.1007/s11259-023-10291-y] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/19/2023] [Accepted: 12/28/2023] [Indexed: 01/10/2024]
Abstract
The polyspermy occurrence is considerably lower under in vivo compared to in vitro embryo culture conditions, suggesting that the presence of some factors in the maternal environment is responsible for this. The α-L-fucosidase (FUCA) is a natural glycosidase present in the oviductal fluid, therefore, this study aimed at investigating the effect of adding FUCA to the hardening of the zona pellucida (ZP), polyspermy control, and embryonic yield and quality of bovine blastocysts produced in vitro. In the first experiment, the effect of FUCA (0.125 U/mL) was evaluated during the entire in vitro fertilization (IVF). However, it was demonstrated to be embryotoxic by completely inhibiting the blastocyst formation. In the second experiment, the FUCA (0.125 U/mL) was tested as short-term incubation before IVF (pre-fertilization step) for 30 min or 2 h, which demonstrated that FUCA treatment for 30 min resulted in ZP hardening. In the third experiment, a pre-fertilization FUCA treatment (1 h) at different concentrations (0, 0.0625, and 0.125 U/mL) showed that FUCA (0.0625 U/mL) improved pre-fertilization ZP hardening and tended to increase monospermic fertilization rates but did not improve embryo yield and quality. Together, it has been demonstrated that FUCA can induce oocyte pre-fertilization ZP hardening and might improve monospermic fertilization performance, and this effect is dependent on both variables (protein concentration and incubation time).
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
| | | | - Fernanda Fagali Franchi
- Laboratory of Phytomedicines, Pharmacology and Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo State (UNESP), Rua Prof. Antonio Celso Wagner Zanin, S/N, Zip Code: 18618689, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil
| | - Priscila Helena Dos Santos
- Laboratory of Phytomedicines, Pharmacology and Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo State (UNESP), Rua Prof. Antonio Celso Wagner Zanin, S/N, Zip Code: 18618689, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil
| | - Eduardo Montanari Razza
- Laboratory of Phytomedicines, Pharmacology and Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo State (UNESP), Rua Prof. Antonio Celso Wagner Zanin, S/N, Zip Code: 18618689, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil
| | - Sarah Gomes Nunes
- Laboratory of Phytomedicines, Pharmacology and Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo State (UNESP), Rua Prof. Antonio Celso Wagner Zanin, S/N, Zip Code: 18618689, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil
| | | | - Patricia Kubo Fontes
- Laboratory of Phytomedicines, Pharmacology and Biotechnology, Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Biosciences, University of São Paulo State (UNESP), Rua Prof. Antonio Celso Wagner Zanin, S/N, Zip Code: 18618689, Botucatu, São Paulo State, Brazil.
| |
Collapse
|
2
|
Tumor necrosis factor-α confers cardioprotection through ectopic expression of keratins K8 and K18. Nat Med 2015; 21:1076-84. [PMID: 26280121 DOI: 10.1038/nm.3925] [Citation(s) in RCA: 77] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/20/2015] [Accepted: 07/15/2015] [Indexed: 12/18/2022]
Abstract
Tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), one of the major stress-induced proinflammatory cytokines, is upregulated in the heart after tissue injury, and its sustained expression can contribute to the development of heart failure. Whether TNF-α also exerts cytoprotective effects in heart failure is not known. Here we provide evidence for a cardioprotective function of TNF-α in a genetic heart failure model, desmin-deficient mice. The cardioprotective effects of TNF-α are a consequence of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB)-mediated ectopic expression in cardiomyocytes of keratin 8 (K8) and keratin 18 (K18), two epithelial-specific intermediate filament proteins. In cardiomyocytes, K8 and K18 (K8/K18) formed an alternative cytoskeletal network that localized mainly at intercalated discs (IDs) and conferred cardioprotection by maintaining normal ID structure and mitochondrial integrity and function. Ectopic induction of K8/K18 expression in cardiomyocytes also occurred in other genetic and experimental models of heart failure. Loss of the K8/K18 network resulted in a maladaptive cardiac phenotype following transverse aortic constriction. In human failing myocardium, where TNF-α expression is upregulated, K8/K18 were also ectopically expressed and localized primarily at IDs, which did not contain detectable amounts of desmin. Thus, TNF-α- and NF-κB-mediated formation of an alternative, stress-induced intermediate filament cytoskeleton has cardioprotective function in mice and potentially in humans.
Collapse
|
3
|
Ramírez GA, Rodríguez F, Herráez P, Castro-Alonso A, Andrada M, Espinosa-de-los-Monteros A. Ultrastructural characterization of normal Merkel cells in the dog. Vet Dermatol 2015; 26:328-33, e68-9. [PMID: 26174874 DOI: 10.1111/vde.12230] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Accepted: 05/09/2015] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Involvement of Merkel cells (MKs) in different cutaneous diseases as well as in the growth, differentiation and homeostasis of the skin has been previously documented. HYPOTHESIS/OBJECTIVES The aim was to assess the ultrastructural features of MKs in canine skin, including morphometrics, highlighting their similarities with and differences from those described for other mammals. ANIMALS Hard palate, nasal planum, lower lip and whisker pad samples were taken from two healthy young dogs destined for academic purposes. METHODS Ultrathin sections of samples fixed in osmium tetroxide and embedded in Epon 812 resin were stained with uranyl acetate and lead citrate and examined using a JEOL JEM 2010 transmission electron microscope. RESULTS Ultrastructural characteristics included the following: (i) arrangement in clusters in the basal layer of the epidermis, oral mucosa and external follicular root sheath; (ii) inconstant link with nerve terminal; (iii) oval (10.27 ± 1.64 μm major axis) cell shape with large lobulated nuclei (5.98 ± 1.16 μm major axis); (iv) spine-like and thick cytoplasmic processes interdigitating with surrounding keratinocytes; (v) presence of desmosomes in the cell body or at the base of spine-like processes attaching to neighbouring keratinocytes; and (vi) cytoplasm containing loosely arranged intermediate filaments (10.04 ± 1.17 nm) and numerous dense-core granules (100.1 ± 17.12 nm) arranged in the basal portion of the cytoplasm. CONCLUSIONS AND CLINICAL IMPORTANCE This study provides the first complete description of the ultrastructural characteristics of MKs in the dog, enhancing our knowledge of the skin structure in this species and providing a basis for future physiological and pathological studies of the role of these cells in normal and damaged canine tissues.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo A Ramírez
- Unit of Histology and Veterinary Pathology, Institute for Animal Health, Veterinary College, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus Universitario Cardones, Arucas, Las Palmas, 45413, Spain
| | - Francisco Rodríguez
- Unit of Histology and Veterinary Pathology, Institute for Animal Health, Veterinary College, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus Universitario Cardones, Arucas, Las Palmas, 45413, Spain
| | - Pedro Herráez
- Unit of Histology and Veterinary Pathology, Institute for Animal Health, Veterinary College, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus Universitario Cardones, Arucas, Las Palmas, 45413, Spain
| | - Ayoze Castro-Alonso
- Unit of Histology and Veterinary Pathology, Institute for Animal Health, Veterinary College, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus Universitario Cardones, Arucas, Las Palmas, 45413, Spain
| | - Marisa Andrada
- Unit of Histology and Veterinary Pathology, Institute for Animal Health, Veterinary College, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus Universitario Cardones, Arucas, Las Palmas, 45413, Spain
| | - Antonio Espinosa-de-los-Monteros
- Unit of Histology and Veterinary Pathology, Institute for Animal Health, Veterinary College, University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Campus Universitario Cardones, Arucas, Las Palmas, 45413, Spain
| |
Collapse
|
4
|
Transmembrane protein PERP is a component of tessellate junctions and of other junctional and non-junctional plasma membrane regions in diverse epithelial and epithelium-derived cells. Cell Tissue Res 2013; 353:99-115. [PMID: 23689684 PMCID: PMC3691483 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-013-1645-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 20] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/13/2013] [Accepted: 04/22/2013] [Indexed: 12/16/2022]
Abstract
Protein PERP (p53 apoptosis effector related to PMP-22) is a small (21.4 kDa) transmembrane polypeptide with an amino acid sequence indicative of a tetraspanin character. It is enriched in the plasma membrane and apparently contributes to cell-cell contacts. Hitherto, it has been reported to be exclusively a component of desmosomes of some stratified epithelia. However, by using a series of newly generated mono- and polyclonal antibodies, we show that protein PERP is not only present in all kinds of stratified epithelia but also occurs in simple, columnar, complex and transitional epithelia, in various types of squamous metaplasia and epithelium-derived tumors, in diverse epithelium-derived cell cultures and in myocardial tissue. Immunofluorescence and immunoelectron microscopy allow us to localize PERP predominantly in small intradesmosomal locations and in variously sized, junction-like peri- and interdesmosomal regions ("tessellate junctions"), mostly in mosaic or amalgamated combinations with other molecules believed, to date, to be exclusive components of tight and adherens junctions. In the heart, PERP is a major component of the composite junctions of the intercalated disks connecting cardiomyocytes. Finally, protein PERP is a cobblestone-like general component of special plasma membrane regions such as the bile canaliculi of liver and subapical-to-lateral zones of diverse columnar epithelia and upper urothelial cell layers. We discuss possible organizational and architectonic functions of protein PERP and its potential value as an immunohistochemical diagnostic marker.
Collapse
|
5
|
Rickelt S. Plakophilin-2: a cell-cell adhesion plaque molecule of selective and fundamental importance in cardiac functions and tumor cell growth. Cell Tissue Res 2012; 348:281-94. [PMID: 22281687 PMCID: PMC3349858 DOI: 10.1007/s00441-011-1314-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/07/2011] [Accepted: 12/16/2011] [Indexed: 01/23/2023]
Abstract
Within the characteristic ensemble of desmosomal plaque proteins, the armadillo protein plakophilin-2 (Pkp2) is known as a particularly important regulatory component in the cytoplasmic plaques of various other cell-cell junctions, such as the composite junctions (areae compositae) of the myocardiac intercalated disks and in the variously-sized and -shaped complex junctions of permanent cell culture lines derived therefrom. In addition, Pkp2 has been detected in certain protein complexes in the nucleoplasm of diverse kinds of cells. Using a novel set of highly sensitive and specific antibodies, both kinds of Pkp2, the junctional plaque-bound and the nuclear ones, can also be localized to the cytoplasmic plaques of diverse non-desmosomal cell-cell junction structures. These are not only the puncta adhaerentia and the fasciae adhaerentes connecting various types of highly proliferative non-epithelial cells growing in culture but also some very proliferative states of cardiac interstitial cells and cardiac myxomata, including tumors growing in situ as well as fetal stages of heart development and cultures of valvular interstitial cells. Possible functions and assembly mechanisms of such Pkp2-positive cell-cell junctions as well as medical consequences are discussed.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- Steffen Rickelt
- Helmholtz Group for Cell Biology, German Cancer Research Center, Heidelberg, Germany.
| |
Collapse
|
6
|
Munoz WA, Kloc M, Cho K, Lee M, Hofmann I, Sater A, Vleminckx K, McCrea PD. Plakophilin-3 is required for late embryonic amphibian development, exhibiting roles in ectodermal and neural tissues. PLoS One 2012; 7:e34342. [PMID: 22496792 PMCID: PMC3320641 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0034342] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/05/2011] [Accepted: 02/27/2012] [Indexed: 12/31/2022] Open
Abstract
The p120-catenin family has undergone a significant expansion during the evolution of vertebrates, resulting in varied functions that have yet to be discerned or fully characterized. Likewise, members of the plakophilins, a related catenin subfamily, are found throughout the cell with little known about their functions outside the desmosomal plaque. While the plakophilin-3 (Pkp3) knockout mouse resulted in skin defects, we find larger, including lethal effects following its depletion in Xenopus. Pkp3, unlike some other characterized catenins in amphibians, does not have significant maternal deposits of mRNA. However, during embryogenesis, two Pkp3 protein products whose temporal expression is partially complimentary become expressed. Only the smaller of these products is found in adult Xenopus tissues, with an expression pattern exhibiting distinctions as well as overlaps with those observed in mammalian studies. We determined that Xenopus Pkp3 depletion causes a skin fragility phenotype in keeping with the mouse knockout, but more novel, Xenopus tailbud embryos are hyposensitive to touch even in embryos lacking outward discernable phenotypes, and we additionally resolved disruptions in certain peripheral neural structures, altered establishment and migration of neural crest, and defects in ectodermal multiciliated cells. The use of two distinct morpholinos, as well as rescue approaches, indicated the specificity of these effects. Our results point to the requirement of Pkp3 in amphibian embryogenesis, with functional roles in a number of tissue types.
Collapse
Affiliation(s)
- William A. Munoz
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Program in Genes and Development, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Malgorzata Kloc
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Department of Surgery, The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Kyucheol Cho
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Program in Genes and Development, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Moonsup Lee
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Program in Genes and Development, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Ilse Hofmann
- Joint Research Division Vascular Biology of the Medical Faculty Mannheim, University of Heidelberg- DKFZ, Mannheim, Germany
| | - Amy Sater
- Biology and Biochemistry Department, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, United States of America
| | - Kris Vleminckx
- Department for Molecular Biomedical Research, Flanders Institute for Biotechnology VIB, Ghent, Belgium
| | - Pierre D. McCrea
- Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- Program in Genes and Development, University of Texas Graduate School of Biomedical Science, Houston, Texas, United States of America
- * E-mail:
| |
Collapse
|
7
|
The adhering junctions of valvular interstitial cells: molecular composition in fetal and adult hearts and the comings and goings of plakophilin-2 in situ, in cell culture and upon re-association with scaffolds. Cell Tissue Res 2012; 348:295-307. [DOI: 10.1007/s00441-011-1315-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 11] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/16/2011] [Accepted: 12/20/2011] [Indexed: 10/14/2022]
|