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Takase, Y.

Publications and source records attributed to Takase, Y..

2 recordsLinked to original sources

Blood flow-mediated gene transfer and siRNA-knockdown in the developing vasculature in a spatio-temporally controlled manner in chicken embryos

We describe a method by which early developing vasculature can be gene-manipulated independently of the heart in a spatio-temporally controlled manner. Lipofectamine 2000 or 3000, an easy-to-use lipid reagent, has been found to yield a high efficiency of transfection when co-injected with GFP DNA within a critical range of lipid concentration. By exploiting developmentally changing patterns of vasculature and blood flow, we have succeed in controlling the site of transfection: injection with a lipid-DNA cocktail into the heart before or after the blood circulation starts results in a limited and widely spread patterns of transfection, respectively. Furthermore, a cocktail injection into the right dorsal aorta leads to transgenesis of the right half of embryonic vasculature. In addition, this method combined with the siRNA technique has allowed, for the first time, to knockdown the endogenous expression of VE-cadherin (also called Cdh5), which has been implicated in assembly of nasant blood vessels: when Cah5 siRNA is injected into the right dorsal aorta, pronounced defects in the right half of vasculature are observed without heart defects. Whereas infusion-mediated gene transfection method has previously been reported using lipid reagents that were elaborately prepared on their own, Lipofectamine is an easy-use reagent with no requirement of special expertise. The methods reported here would overcome shortcomings of conventional vascular-transgenic animals, such as mice and zebrafish, in which pan-endothelial enhancer-driven transgenesis often leads to the heart malformation, which, in turn, indirectly affects peripheral vasculature due to flow defects. Since a variety of subtypes in vasculature have increasingly been appreciated, the spatio-temporally controllable gene manipulation described in this study offers a powerful tool.\n\nResearch HighlightsO_LIBlood flow-mediated transfection enables site-specific transgenesis in vessels.\nC_LIO_LIThis transfection technique allows local knockdown of endogenous gene(s) by siRNA.\nC_LIO_LIKnockdown of endogenous VE-cadherin causes vascular defects without heart failure.\nC_LI

developmental biology

Comparison of the 3-D patterns of the parasympathetic nervous system in the lung at late developmental stages between mouse and chicken

Although the basic schema of the body plan is similar among different species of amniotes (mammals, birds, and reptiles), the lung is an exception. Here, anatomy and physiology are considerably different, particularly between mammals and birds. In mammals, inhaled and exhaled airs mix in the airways, whereas in birds the inspired air flows unidirectionally without mixing with the expired air. This bird-specific respiration system is enabled by the complex tubular structures called parabronchi where gas exchange takes place, and also by the bellow-like air sacs appended to the main part of the lung. That the lung is predominantly governed by the parasympathetic nervous system has been shown mostly by physiological studies in mammals. However, how the parasympathetic nervous system in the lung is established during late development has largely been unexplored both in mammals and birds. In this study, by combining immunocytochemistry, the tissue-clearing CUBIC method, and ink-injection to airways, we have visualized the 3-D distribution patterns of parasympathetic nerves and ganglia in the lung at late developmental stages of mice and chickens. These patterns were further compared between these species, and three prominent similarities emerged: (1) parasympathetic postganglionic fibers and ganglia are widely distributed in the lung covering the proximal and distal portions, (2) the gas exchange units, alveoli in mice and parabronchi in chickens, are devoid of parasympathetic nerves, (3) parasympathetic nerves are in close association with smooth muscle cells, particularly at the base of the gas exchange units. These observations suggest that despite gross differences in anatomy, the basic mechanisms underlying parasympathetic control of smooth muscles and gas exchange might be conserved between mammals and birds.\n\nHighlightsO_LI3-D patterns of parasympathetic nerves are visualized in mouse and chicken lungs.\nC_LI\n\nComparison of these patterns reveals three prominent similarities between mouse and chicken: O_LIVAChT-positive postganglionic fibers and ganglia are widely distributed in the lung.\nC_LIO_LIGas exchange units are devoid of parasympathetic nerves.\nC_LIO_LIParasympathetic nerves are in close association with smooth muscle cells.\nC_LI

developmental biology