Apoptosis
- Myh6-driven Cre recombinase activates the DNA damage response and the cell cycle in the myocardium in the absence of loxP sites
Summary: The presence of tamoxifen-induced Cre recombinase (merCremer) in the nucleus of cardiomyocytes induces DNA damage and unscheduled cell-cycle activation, indicating the requirement for appropriate controls when using Cre-loxP models for cardiac regeneration studies.
- Progenitor death drives retinal dysplasia and neuronal degeneration in a mouse model of ATRIP-Seckel syndrome
Summary: Retinopathies have been reported in primordial dwarfism syndromes. We show that the loss of Atrip, a gene mutated in Seckel syndrome, causes photoreceptor degeneration owing to p53-dependent apoptosis of retinal progenitors during development.
- A Drosophila model to study retinitis pigmentosa pathology associated with mutations in the core splicing factor Prp8
Summary: A Drosophila melanogaster disease model of retinitis pigmentosa type 13 to study the mechanisms underlying the loss of tissue homeostasis and degeneration caused by mutations in the core component of the spliceosome Prp8.
- Adenoviral TMBIM6 vector attenuates ER-stress-induced apoptosis in a neonatal hypoxic-ischemic rat model
Summary: Elucidating the role of Bax inhibitor 1 (BI-1) and its mechanisms in the pathophysiology of hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy may help provide a basis for BI-1 as a potential therapeutic target in clinics.
- Perturbed development of cranial neural crest cells in association with reduced sonic hedgehog signaling underlies the pathogenesis of retinoic-acid-induced cleft palate
Editor's choice: The RA-Shh signaling pathway is revealed to be critical during cranial neural crest development, which impacts secondary palate development.
- Disruption of asxl1 results in myeloproliferative neoplasms in zebrafish
Summary: Homozygous loss of asxl1 in zebrafish leads to apoptosis of newly formed HSCs by upregulation of bim and bid. Half of the asxl1+/− zebrafish had MPNs by 5 months of age.
- Spliceosomal components protect embryonic neurons from R-loop-mediated DNA damage and apoptosis
Summary: Loss of RNA splicing factors causes R-loop accumulation and DNA damage in embryonic neurons, sensitizing them to radiation-induced cell death. These findings suggest that diseased cells with mutations in splicing factors are vulnerable to radiotherapy.
- Activation of the Nkx2.5–Calr–p53 signaling pathway by hyperglycemia induces cardiac remodeling and dysfunction in adult zebrafish
Summary: Induction of hyperglycemia gives rise to cardiac apoptosis and dysfunction in adult zebrafish via the Nkx2.5–Calr–p53 signaling pathway, resulting in adult cardiomyopathy.
- Bar-coding neurodegeneration: identifying subcellular effects of human neurodegenerative disease proteins using Drosophila leg neurons
Summary: Toxic effects of neurodegenerative disease proteins on neuronal function and morphology can be addressed using an array of transgenic fluorescent reporters in the adult Drosophila leg.
- (CCUG)n RNA toxicity in a Drosophila model of myotonic dystrophy type 2 (DM2) activates apoptosis
Summary: A Drosophila model of myotonic dystrophy type 2 (DM2) recapitulates several features of the human disease, identifies apoptosis as a contributing factor to DM2, and is likely to provide a convenient tool for drug screening.