Publications (4)14.93 Total impact
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Article: FAK-mediated extracellular signals are essential for interkinetic nuclear migration and planar divisions in the neuroepithelium.
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ABSTRACT: During the development of the vertebrate nervous system, mitosis of neural progenitor cells takes place near the lumen, the apical side of the neural tube, through a characteristic movement of nuclei known as interkinetic nuclear migration (INM). Furthermore, during the proliferative period, neural progenitor cells exhibit planar cell divisions to produce equivalent daughter cells. Here, we examine the potential role of extracellular signals in INM and planar divisions using the medaka mutant tacobo (tab). This tab mutant shows pleiotropic phenotypes, including neurogenesis, and positional cloning identified tab as laminin gamma1 (lamc1), providing a unique framework to study the role of extracellular signals in neurogenesis. In tab mutant neural tubes, a number of nuclei exhibit abnormal patterns of migration leading to basally mislocalized mitosis. Furthermore, the orientation of cell division near the apical surface is randomized. Probably because of these defects, neurogenesis is accelerated in the tab neural tube. Detailed analyses demonstrate that extracellular signals mediated by the FAK pathway regulate INM and planar divisions in the neuroepithelium, possibly through interaction with the intracellular dynein-motor system.Journal of Cell Science 02/2010; 123(Pt 3):484-96. · 6.11 Impact Factor -
Article: Phenotypic analysis of a novel chordin mutant in medaka.
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ABSTRACT: We have isolated and characterized a ventralized mutant in medaka (the Japanese killifish; Oryzias latipes), which turned out to have a mutation in the chordin gene. The mutant exhibits ventralization of the body axis, malformation of axial bones, over-bifurcation of yolk sac blood vessels, and laterality defects in internal organs. The mutant exhibits variability of phenotypes, depending on the culture temperature, from embryos with a slightly ventralized phenotype to those without any head and trunk structures. Taking advantages of these variable and severe phenotypes, we analyzed the role of Chordin-dependent tissues such as the notochord and Kupffer's vesicle (KV) in the establishment of left-right axis in fish. The results demonstrate that, in the absence of the notochord and KV, the medaka lateral plate mesoderm autonomously and bilaterally expresses spaw gene in a default state.Developmental Dynamics 09/2007; 236(8):2298-310. · 2.54 Impact Factor -
Article: Right-elevated expression of charon is regulated by fluid flow in medaka Kupffer's vesicle.
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ABSTRACT: Recent studies have revealed that a cilium-generated liquid flow in the node has a crucial role in the establishment of the left-right (LR) axis in the mouse. In fish, Kupffer's vesicle (KV), a teleost-specific spherical organ attached to the tail region, is known to have an equivalent role to the mouse node during LR axis formation. However, at present, there has been no report of an asymmetric gene expressed in KV under the control of fluid flow. Here we report the earliest asymmetric gene in teleost KV, medaka charon, and its regulation. Charon is a member of the Cerberus/DAN family of proteins, first identified in zebrafish. Although zebrafish charon was reported to be symmetrically expressed in KV, medaka charon displays asymmetric expression with more intense expression on the right side. This asymmetric expression was found to be regulated by KV flow because symmetric and up-regulated charon expression was observed in flow-defective embryos with immotile cilia or disrupted KV. Taken together, medaka charon is a reliable gene marker for LR asymmetry in KV and thus, will be useful for the analysis of the early steps downstream of the fluid flow.Embryologia 07/2007; 49(5):395-405. · 2.21 Impact Factor -
Article: Mutant analyses reveal different functions of fgfr1 in medaka and zebrafish despite conserved ligand-receptor relationships.
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ABSTRACT: Medaka (Oryzias latipes) is a small freshwater teleost that provides an excellent developmental genetic model complementary to zebrafish. Our recent mutagenesis screening using medaka identified headfish (hdf) which is characterized by the absence of trunk and tail structures with nearly normal head including the midbrain-hindbrain boundary (MHB). Positional-candidate cloning revealed that the hdf mutation causes a functionally null form of Fgfr1. The fgfr1hdf is thus the first fgf receptor mutant in fish. Although FGF signaling has been implicated in mesoderm induction, mesoderm is induced normally in the fgfr1hdf mutant, but subsequently, mutant embryos fail to maintain the mesoderm, leading to defects in mesoderm derivatives, especially in trunk and tail. Furthermore, we found that morpholino knockdown of medaka fgf8 resulted in a phenotype identical to the fgfr1hdf mutant, suggesting that like its mouse counterpart, Fgf8 is a major ligand for Fgfr1 in medaka early embryogenesis. Intriguingly, Fgf8 and Fgfr1 in zebrafish are also suggested to form a major ligand-receptor pair, but their function is much diverged, as the zebrafish fgfr1 morphant and zebrafish fgf8 mutant acerebellar (ace) only fail to develop the MHB, but develop nearly unaffected trunk and tail. These results provide evidence that teleost fish have evolved divergent functions of Fgf8-Fgfr1 while maintaining the ligand-receptor relationships. Comparative analysis using different fish is thus invaluable for shedding light on evolutionary diversification of gene function.Developmental Biology 05/2007; 304(1):326-37. · 4.07 Impact Factor
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Institutions
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2007–2010
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The University of Tokyo
- • Faculty of Science
- • Department of Biological Sciences
Tokyo, Tokyo-to, Japan
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