Published papers

Many previous studies have reported the various proteins specifically secreted as inducers in the dorsal or ventral regions in vertebrate gastrula. However, little is known about the effect on cell fate of small molecules below 1000 Da. We therefore tried to identify small molecules specifically expressed in the dorsal marginal zone (DMZ) or ventral marginal zone (VMZ) in vertebrate gastrula. Small intracellular and secreted molecules were detected using explants and supernatant samples. Hydrophilic metabolites were analyzed by capillary ion chromatography–mass spectrometry and liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry, and lipids were analyzed by supercritical fluid chromatography–tandem mass spectrometry. In total, 190 hydrophilic metabolites and 396 lipids were identified. The DMZ was found to have high amounts of glycolysis-and glutathione metabolismrelated metabolites in explants, and the VMZ was richer in purine metabolism-related metabolites. We also discovered some hydrophilic metabolites and lipids differentially contained in the DMZ or VMZ. Our research would contribute to a deeper understanding of the cellular physiology that regulates early embryogenesis.

Few studies have comprehensively screened for ionic small molecules with high water-solubility in the traditional Japanese mandarin orange Citrus unshiu Marc. Here, we performedmetabolomic analysis with capillary electrophoresismass spectrometry (CE-MS) to comprehensively identify and accumulate gross quantitative data for water-soluble components in the different varieties of.Aoshima. and 'Okitsu/ Miyagawa Wase., according to grade and processing method. In this analysis, we focusedon 151 components andshowed the characteristic components relatedto each different variety andprocessing method, e.g., Met, Gly, andAsp in var. Wase; ornithine, putrescine, synephrine, andGln in var. Aoshima; andpyroglutamate, GABA (γ -aminobutyric acid), andmalonate in the juice of var. Aoshima. Furthermore, we conductedprocessing tests andid entifiedcomponents that were affectedby squeezing or heating. These data represent basic data for further investigation of the metabolism of C. unshiu Marc. or chemical changes in their components due to external factors such as processing.

Notochord is an embryonic midline structure that serves as mechanical support for axis elongation and the signaling center for the surrounding tissues. Precursors of notochord are initially induced in the dorsal most mesoderm region in gastrulating embryo and separate from the surrounding mesoderm/endoderm tissue to form an elongated rod-like structure, suggesting that cell adhesion molecules may play an important role in this step. In Xenopus embryo, axial protocadherin (AXPC), an orthologue of mammalian Protocadherin-1 (PCDH1), is indispensable for the assembly and separation from the surrounding tissue of the notochord cells. However, the role of PCDH1 in mammalian notochord remains unknown. We herein report that PCDH1 is expressed in the notochord of mouse embryo and that PCDH1-deficient mice form notochord normally. First, we examined the temporal expression pattern of pcdh1 and found that pcdh1 mRNA was expressed from embryonic day (E) 7.5, prior to the stage when notochord cells detach from the surrounding endoderm tissue. Second, we found that PCDH1 protein is expressed in the notochord of mouse embryos in addition to the previously reported expression in endothelial cells. To further investigate the role of PCDH1 in embryonic development, we generated PCDH1-deficient mice using the CRISPR-Cas9 system. In PCDH1-deficient embryos, notochord formation and separation from the surrounding tissue were normal. Structure and marker gene expression of notochord were also unaffected by loss of PCDH1. Major vascular patterns in PCDH1-deficient embryo were essentially normal. These results suggest that PCDH1 is dispensable for notochord formation, including the tissue separation process, in mammalian embryos. We successfully identified the evolutionary conserved expression of PCDH1 in notochord, but its function may differ among species.