21,036 research outputs found
Nuclear Actin: A Lack of Export Allows Formation of Filaments
No full textActin has been found in nuclei of many cell types, but little is known about its form and function. A recent study has shown that a lack of specific export allows actin to accumulate in the nucleus, where it forms a network of actin filaments that may be required to stabilize the giant nucleus of the Xenopus oocyte
Self-Organization of MTOCs Replaces Centrosome Function during Acentrosomal Spindle Assembly in Live Mouse Oocytes
No full textSummaryChromosome segregation in mammalian oocytes is driven by a microtubule spindle lacking centrosomes. Here, we analyze centrosome-independent spindle assembly by quantitative high-resolution confocal imaging in live maturing mouse oocytes. We show that spindle assembly proceeds by the self-organization of over 80 microtubule organizing centers (MTOCs) that form de novo from a cytoplasmic microtubule network in prophase and that functionally replace centrosomes. Initially distributed throughout the ooplasm, MTOCs congress at the center of the oocyte, where they contribute to a massive, Ran-dependent increase of the number of microtubules after nuclear envelope breakdown and to the individualization of clustered chromosomes. Through progressive MTOC clustering and activation of kinesin-5, the multipolar MTOC aggregate self-organizes into a bipolar intermediate, which then elongates and thereby establishes chromosome biorientation. Finally, a stable barrel-shaped acentrosomal metaphase spindle with oscillating chromosomes and astral-like microtubules forms that surprisingly exhibits key properties of a centrosomal spindle
A New Model for Asymmetric Spindle Positioning in Mouse Oocytes
No full textSummaryAn oocyte matures into an egg by extruding half of the chromosomes in a small polar body. This extremely asymmetric division enables the oocyte to retain sufficient storage material for the development of the embryo after fertilization. To divide asymmetrically, mammalian oocytes relocate the spindle from their center to the cortex. In all mammalian species analyzed so far, including human [1], mouse [2], cow [3], pig [4], and hamster [5], spindle relocation depends on filamentous actin (F-actin). However, even though spindle relocation is essential for fertility [6], the involved F-actin structures and the mechanism by which they relocate the spindle are unknown. Here we show in live mouse oocytes that spindle relocation requires a continuously reorganizing cytoplasmic actin network nucleated by Formin-2 (Fmn2). We found that the spindle poles were enriched in activated myosin and pulled on this network. Inhibition of myosin activation by myosin light chain kinase (MLCK) stopped pulling and spindle relocation, indicating that myosin pulling creates the force that drives spindle movement. Based on these results, we propose the first mechanistic model for asymmetric spindle positioning in mammalian oocytes and validate five of its key predictions experimentally
Raw Data for: Rapid generation of homozygous fluorescent knock-in human cells using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing and validation by automated imaging and digital PCR screening. Authors: Andrea Callegari, Moritz Kueblbeck, Beatriz Serrano-Solano, Natalia Rosalia Morero and Jan Ellenberg.
No full textRaw Data for: Rapid generation of homozygous fluorescent knock-in human cells using CRISPR/Cas9 genome editing and validation by automated imaging and digital PCR screening. Authors: Andrea Callegari, Moritz Kueblbeck, Beatriz Serrano-Solano, Natalia Rosalia Morero and Jan Ellenberg.</p
The transition from meiotic to mitotic spindle assembly is gradual during early mammalian development
Get PDFThe transition from meiosis to mitosis, classically defined by fertilization, is a fundamental process in development. However, its mechanism remains largely unexplored. In this paper, we report a surprising gradual transition from meiosis to mitosis over the first eight divisions of the mouse embryo. The first cleavages still largely share the mechanism of spindle formation with meiosis, during which the spindle is self-assembled from randomly distributed microtubule-organizing centers (MTOCs) without centrioles, because of the concerted activity of dynein and kinesin-5. During preimplantation development, the number of cellular MTOCs progressively decreased, the spindle pole gradually became more focused, and spindle length progressively scaled down with cell size. The typical mitotic spindle with centrin-, odf2-, kinesin-12–, and CP110-positive centrosomes was established only in the blastocyst. Overall, the transition from meiosis to mitosis progresses gradually throughout the preimplantation stage in the mouse embryo, thus providing a unique system to study the mechanism of centrosome biogenesis in vivo
Sister chromatid resolution is an intrinsic part of chromosome organization in prophase
No full textThe formation of mitotic chromosomes requires both compaction of chromatin and the resolution of replicated sister chromatids. Compaction occurs during mitotic prophase and prometaphase, and in prophase relies on the activity of condensin II complexes1,2. Exactly when and how sister chromatid resolution occurs has been largely unknown, as has its molecular requirements. Here, we established a method to visualize sister resolution by sequential replication labelling with two distinct nucleotide derivatives. Quantitative three-dimensional imaging then allowed us to measure the resolution of sister chromatids throughout mitosis by calculating their non-overlapping volume within the whole chromosome. Unexpectedly, we found that sister chromatid resolution starts already at the beginning of prophase, proceeds concomitantly with chromatin compaction and is largely completed by the end of prophase. Sister chromatid resolution was abolished by inhibition of topoisomerase IIα and by depleting or preventing mitotic activation of condensin II, whereas blocking cohesin dissociation from chromosomes had little effect. Mitotic sister chromatid resolution is thus an intrinsic part of mitotic chromosome formation in prophase that relies largely on DNA decatenation and shares the molecular requirement for condensin II with prophase compaction
Jan Kapr's contribution to contemporary music : an essay about a composer and teacher
No full textThis creative project is a treatise on a leading personality of Czechoslovakian musical life, the composer, Jan Kapr. The author discusses the following:1. The complicated development of Kapr's career and work, 2. Kapr's method of organization of musical material in a composition, as described in his book Constants,3. His former and current style which is demonstrated in two of his compositions, Concert Variations, for flute and string orchestra and Testimonies for four solo instruments,4. Two of his recent works, Exercises for Gydli and the Symphony No. 7, Country of Childhood.Thesis (M.A.
Going Beyond Counting First Authors in Author Co-citation Analysis
Get PDFThe present study examines one of the fundamental aspects of author co-citation analysis (ACA) - the way co-citation
counts are defined. Co-citation counting provides the data on which all subsequent statistical analyses and mappings
are based, and we compare ACA results based on two different types of co-citation counting - the traditional type that
only counts the first one among a cited work's authors on the one hand and a non-traditional type that takes into
account the first 5 authors of a cited work on the other hand. Results indicate that the picture produced through this non-traditional author co-citation counting contains more coherent author groups and is therefore considerably clearer. However, this picture represents fewer specialties in the research field being studied than that produced through the traditional first-author co-citation counting when the same number of top-ranked authors is selected and analyzed. Reasons for these effects are discussed
ELEVEN FACES OF JAN GOGOL, JR.
No full textAuthor Jan Rendl in his thesis attempts to look at the world of ideas and educator Jan
Gogola ml. through the eleven chapters in which each chapter somehow characterizes itself by Jan Gogola ml. and each of them somehow determines its creative ideas of it through the metaphor of a football match when Jan Gogola, with its characters, movies himself a teammate, as well as defensively. It gives goals with their situations as well as occasionally digging his opponents ankles.
Jan Gogola ml. thus embodies one stage of the Department of Documentary Film at FAMU, which often stands at the intersection between teaching activities and Karel Vachek among students who applied by them during their seminars psychological methods that work must be peculiarly associated with the author of the film
Dr. Jan French – Faculty Author Interview
No full textDr. Jan French, Assistant Professor of Anthropology, discusses her new book, Legalizing Identities: Becoming Black or Indian in Brazil’s Northeast, which shows how law can successfully serve as the impetus for the transformation of cultural practices and collective identity
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