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Matsuda, T.

Publications and source records attributed to Matsuda, T..

6 recordsLinked to original sources

VLCFA-mediated inter-cell layer communication controls cellular pluripotency in Arabidopsis callus

Plants have remarkable capacity to reconstruct entire organ systems from tissue explants. In Arabidopsis two-step tissue culture system, pluripotency regulators are specifically expressed in the middle-cell layer of the stratified callus tissue. However, regulatory mechanisms underlying the radial patterning of callus remained unclear. Here, we found that very-long-chain fatty acids (VLCFAs) synthesized in the epidermis-like outermost layer are essential for pluripotency acquisition and successful shoot regeneration. Our genetic and transcriptomic analyses revealed that the regulatory roles of VLCFAs on pluripotency acquisition involve inter-cell layer signaling in callus tissue, while they are at least partly independent of ATML1/PDF2 functions and cuticular wax synthesis in the outermost layer. VLCFAs spatially restrict procambium cell identity by non-cell-autonomously suppressing cytokinin signaling, thereby allowing for establishment of the middle-cell layer. We propose that the inhibitory relationships between layer-specific regulators underlie the intricate balance of cellular fate determination in pluripotent callus.

plant biology

Sufficient therapeutic effect of cryopreserved frozen adipose-derived regenerative cells on burn wounds

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether cryopreserved (frozen) adipose-derived regenerative cells (ADRCs) have a therapeutic effect on burn wound healing as well as freshly isolated (fresh) ADRCs.\n\nFull thickness burns were created on dorsum of nude mice and burn wound was excised. The wound was covered by artificial dermis with; (i) fresh ADRCs, (ii) frozen ADRCs, and (iii) PBS (control). The assessment for wound healing was performed by morphological, histopathological and immunohistochemical analyses.\n\nIn vivo analyses exhibited the significant therapeutic effect of frozen ADRCs on burn wound healing up to the similar or higher level of fresh ADRCs. There were significant differences of wound closure, epithelized tissue thickness, and neovascularization between the treatment groups and control group. Although there was no significant difference of therapeutic efficacy between fresh ADRC group and frozen ADRC group, frozen ADRCs improved burn wound healing process in dermal regeneration with increased great type I collagen synthesis compared with fresh ADRCs.\n\nThese findings indicate that frozen ADRCs allow us to apply not only quickly but also for multiple times, and the cryopreserved ADRCs could therefore be useful for the treatment of burn wounds in clinical settings.

pathology

Repeated inversions at the pannier intron drive diversification of intraspecific colour patterns of ladybird beetles

How genetic information is modified to generate phenotypic variation within a species is one of the central questions in evolutionary biology. Here we focus on the striking intraspecific diversity of more than 200 aposematic elytral (forewing) colour patterns of the multicoloured Asian ladybird beetle, Harmonia axyridis, which is regulated by a tightly linked genetic locus h. Our loss-of-function analyses, genetic association studies, de novo genome assemblies, and gene expression data reveal that the GATA transcription factor gene pannier is the major regulatory gene located at the h locus, and suggest that repeated inversions and cis-regulatory modifications at pannier led to the expansion of colour pattern variation in H. axyridis. Moreover, we show that the colour patterning function of pannier is conserved in the seven spotted ladybird beetle, Coccinella septempunctata, suggesting that H. axyridis extraordinary intra-specific variation may have arisen from ancient modifications in a conserved elytral colour patterning mechanisms in ladybird beetles.

evolutionary biology

In vivo monitoring of plant small GTPase activation using a Förster resonance energy transfer biosensor

Small GTPases act as molecular switches that regulate various plant responses such as disease resistance, pollen tube growth, root hair development, cell wall patterning and hormone responses. Thus, to monitor their activation status within plant cells is believed to be the key step in understanding their roles. We have established a plant version of a Forster resonance energy transfer (FRET) probe called Ras and interacting protein chimeric unit (Raichu) that can successfully monitor activation of the rice small GTPase OsRac1 during various defence responses in rice cells. Here, we describe the protocol for visualizing spatiotemporal activity of plant Rac/ROP GTPase in living plant cells, transfection of rice protoplasts with Raichu-OsRac1 and acquisition of FRET images. Our protocol should be widely adaptable for monitoring activation for other plant small GTPases and for other FRET sensors in various plant cells.

plant biology

JQ1 affects BRD2-dependent and independent transcription regulation without disrupting H4-hyperacetylated chromatin states

The bromodomain and extra-terminal domain (BET) proteins are promising drug targets for cancer and immune diseases. However, BET inhibition effects have been studied more in the context of bromodomain-containing protein 4 (BRD4) than BRD2, and the BET protein association to histone H4-hyperacetylated chromatin is not understood at the genome-wide level. Here, we report transcription start site (TSS)-resolution integrative analyses of ChIP-seq and transcriptome profiles in human non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cell line H23. We show that di-acetylation at K5 and K8 of histone H4 (H4K5acK8ac) co-localizes with H3K27ac and BRD2 in the majority of active enhancers and promoters, where BRD2 has a stronger association with H4K5acK8ac than H3K27ac. Interestingly, although BET inhibition by JQ1 led to complete reduction of BRD2 binding to chromatin, only local changes of H4K5acK8ac levels were observed. In addition, a remarkable number of BRD2-bound genes, including MYC and its downstream target genes, were transcriptionally upregulated upon JQ1 treatment. Using BRD2-enriched sites and transcriptional activity analysis, we identified candidate transcription factors potentially involved in the JQ1 response in BRD2-dependent and independent manner.

molecular biology

Concept and in-silico assessment of an algorithm for monitoring cytosolic fluorescent aggregates in cells.

Autophagy is an evolutionary conserved pathway, by which eukaryotic cells degrade long-living cellular proteins and intracellular organelles, to maintain a pool of available nutrients. Impaired autophagy has been associated to important pathophysiological conditions, and this is the reason why several techniques have been developed for its correct assessment and monitoring. Fluorescence microscopy is one of these tools, which relies on the detection of specific fluorescence changes of targeted GFP-based reporters in dot-like organelles in which autophagy is executed. Currently, several procedures exist to count and segment this punctate structures in the resulting fluorescence images, however, they are either based on subjective criteria, or no information is available related to them. Here we present the concept of an algorithm for a semi-automatic detection and segmentation in 2D fluorescence images of spot-like structures similar to those observed under induction of autophagy. By evaluating the algorithm on more than 20000 simulated images of cells containing a variable number of punctate structures of different sizes and different levels of applied noise, we demonstrate its high robustness of puncta detection, even on a high noise background. We further demonstrate this feature of our algorithm by testing it in experimental conditions of a high non-specific background signal. We conclude that our algorithm is a suitable tool to be tested in biologically-relevant contexts.

bioinformatics