TY - JOUR
T1 - Involvement of EAT/mcl-1, an anti-apoptotic bcl-2-related gene, in murine embryogenesis and human development
AU - Sano, Makoto
AU - Umezawa, Akihiro
AU - Suzuki, Atsushi
AU - Shimoda, Kouji
AU - Fukuma, Mariko
AU - Hata, Jun ichi
N1 - Funding Information:
The authors thank H. Suzuki, S. Kusakari, H. Abe, and Y. Hashimoto for advise and special assistance with immunohistochemical analysis, M. Ukai, C. Yamamoto, and Y. Hirosawa for preparation of murine embryos, K. Takeichi for the photographs, S. Matsumura and M. Kishi for assistance with plasmid preparation, and K. Oyama for discussion. This work was supported by a grant from the Ministry of Education, Science, and Culture to J.H. and A.U., by Keio University Special Grant-in-Aid for Innovative Collaborative Research Project to J.H. and A.U., by Research Fellowships of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science for Young Scientist to M.S., and by a National Grant-in-Aid for the Establishment of a High-Tech Research Center at Private Universities.
PY - 2000/8/25
Y1 - 2000/8/25
N2 - Apoptosis plays an important regulatory role in mammalian embryogenesis and development. EAT/mcl-1 (EAT), an anti-apoptotic bcl-2-related gene, was isolated during the early differentiation of a human embryonal carcinoma cell line, an event which serves as a model of early embryogenesis. EAT is involved in apoptotic regulation and is believed to also function as an immediate-early gene. Thus it was hypothesized that EAT would be expressed during early embryogenesis and would be involved in the regulation of apoptosis during this critical period. To clarify this early expression, two antibodies to EAT were generated by use of immunizing oligopeptide (aa 37-55) and recombinant protein (aa 31-229) for use in immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting, respectively. With these antibodies, we then determined EAT expression during murine embryogenesis and in human development, using human fetal tissue of 6 to 23 gestational weeks. During murine embryogenesis, the EAT protein was found to be rapidly induced after fertilization, to peak at the 2-cell stage, to remain constant until the 8-cell stage, and then to decrease to below unfertilized egg levels in blastocysts. EAT expression patterns in early human development were found to essentially overlap those observed in adult tissues which suggest that EAT expression continues until adulthood in terminally differentiated tissues. Among tissues distinct to fetal development, EAT was detected in the mesonephric (Wolffian) duct and paramesonephric (Mullerian) duct. It is also noteworthy that prominent EAT immunoreactivity was also observed in large primary oocytes in 21-week fetal ovary, but was not detected in primordial germ cells in 23-week fetal testis. In summary, EAT expression was detected in hematopoietic, epithelial, neural, endocrine, and urogenital cells; this provides evidence that EAT, as an anti-apoptotic molecule, possibly functions to regulate apoptosis during development in these systems. (C) 2000 Academic Press.
AB - Apoptosis plays an important regulatory role in mammalian embryogenesis and development. EAT/mcl-1 (EAT), an anti-apoptotic bcl-2-related gene, was isolated during the early differentiation of a human embryonal carcinoma cell line, an event which serves as a model of early embryogenesis. EAT is involved in apoptotic regulation and is believed to also function as an immediate-early gene. Thus it was hypothesized that EAT would be expressed during early embryogenesis and would be involved in the regulation of apoptosis during this critical period. To clarify this early expression, two antibodies to EAT were generated by use of immunizing oligopeptide (aa 37-55) and recombinant protein (aa 31-229) for use in immunohistochemistry and immunoblotting, respectively. With these antibodies, we then determined EAT expression during murine embryogenesis and in human development, using human fetal tissue of 6 to 23 gestational weeks. During murine embryogenesis, the EAT protein was found to be rapidly induced after fertilization, to peak at the 2-cell stage, to remain constant until the 8-cell stage, and then to decrease to below unfertilized egg levels in blastocysts. EAT expression patterns in early human development were found to essentially overlap those observed in adult tissues which suggest that EAT expression continues until adulthood in terminally differentiated tissues. Among tissues distinct to fetal development, EAT was detected in the mesonephric (Wolffian) duct and paramesonephric (Mullerian) duct. It is also noteworthy that prominent EAT immunoreactivity was also observed in large primary oocytes in 21-week fetal ovary, but was not detected in primordial germ cells in 23-week fetal testis. In summary, EAT expression was detected in hematopoietic, epithelial, neural, endocrine, and urogenital cells; this provides evidence that EAT, as an anti-apoptotic molecule, possibly functions to regulate apoptosis during development in these systems. (C) 2000 Academic Press.
KW - Apoptosis
KW - EAT/mcl-1
KW - Fertilization
KW - Human fetus
KW - Immediate-early gene
KW - Murine embryogenesis
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=0034714590&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=0034714590&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1006/excr.2000.4977
DO - 10.1006/excr.2000.4977
M3 - Article
C2 - 10942585
AN - SCOPUS:0034714590
SN - 0014-4827
VL - 259
SP - 127
EP - 139
JO - Experimental Cell Research
JF - Experimental Cell Research
IS - 1
ER -