Introduction Early cancer detection represents a critical evolution in healthcare,addressing a significant pain point in cancer treatment:the tendency for diagnoses to occur at advanced stages.Traditionally,many cance...Introduction Early cancer detection represents a critical evolution in healthcare,addressing a significant pain point in cancer treatment:the tendency for diagnoses to occur at advanced stages.Traditionally,many cancers are not identified until they have progressed to late stages,where treatment options become limited,less effective,and more costly.This late detection results in poorer prognoses,higher mortality rates,and increased healthcare costs.Without early detection tools like Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization(FISH),these challenges persist,leaving patients with fewer opportunities for successful outcomes.展开更多
The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a crucial role in the embryonic development of metazoans. Although the pathway has been studied extensively in many model animals, its function in amphioxus, the most primiti...The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a crucial role in the embryonic development of metazoans. Although the pathway has been studied extensively in many model animals, its function in amphioxus, the most primitive chordate, remains largely uncharacterized. To obtain basic data for functional analysis, we identified and isolated seven genes (Lrp5/6, Dvl, APC, Ckla, CklS, Gsk3β, and Gro) of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway from the amphioxus (Branchiostoma floridae) genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that amphioxus had fewer members of each gene family than that found in vertebrates. Whole-mount in situ hybridization showed that the genes were maternally expressed and broadly distributed throughout the whole embryo at the cleavage and blastula stages. Among them, Dvl was expressed asymmetrically towards the animal pole, while the others were evenly distributed in all blastomeres. At the mid-gastrula stage, the genes were specifically expressed in the primitive endomesoderm, but displayed different patterns. When the embryo developed into the neurula stage, the gene expressions were mainly detected in either paraxial somites or the tail bud. With the development of the embryo, the expression levels further decreased gradually and remained only in some pharyngeal regions or the tail bud at the larva stage. Our results suggest that the Wnt/β-catenin pathway might be involved in amphioxus somite formation and posterior growth, but not in endomesoderm specification.展开更多
基金supported by Guangzhou Development Zone Science and Technology(2021GH10,2020GH10,2023GH02)the University of Macao(MYRG2022-00271-FST)The Science and Technology Development Fund(FDCT)of Macao(0032/2022/A).
文摘Introduction Early cancer detection represents a critical evolution in healthcare,addressing a significant pain point in cancer treatment:the tendency for diagnoses to occur at advanced stages.Traditionally,many cancers are not identified until they have progressed to late stages,where treatment options become limited,less effective,and more costly.This late detection results in poorer prognoses,higher mortality rates,and increased healthcare costs.Without early detection tools like Fluorescence In Situ Hybridization(FISH),these challenges persist,leaving patients with fewer opportunities for successful outcomes.
基金financially supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31372188,31471986)the Science and Technology Innovation Commission of Shenzhen Municipality(CXZZ20120614164555920)
文摘The Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway plays a crucial role in the embryonic development of metazoans. Although the pathway has been studied extensively in many model animals, its function in amphioxus, the most primitive chordate, remains largely uncharacterized. To obtain basic data for functional analysis, we identified and isolated seven genes (Lrp5/6, Dvl, APC, Ckla, CklS, Gsk3β, and Gro) of the Wnt/β-catenin signaling pathway from the amphioxus (Branchiostoma floridae) genome. Phylogenetic analysis revealed that amphioxus had fewer members of each gene family than that found in vertebrates. Whole-mount in situ hybridization showed that the genes were maternally expressed and broadly distributed throughout the whole embryo at the cleavage and blastula stages. Among them, Dvl was expressed asymmetrically towards the animal pole, while the others were evenly distributed in all blastomeres. At the mid-gastrula stage, the genes were specifically expressed in the primitive endomesoderm, but displayed different patterns. When the embryo developed into the neurula stage, the gene expressions were mainly detected in either paraxial somites or the tail bud. With the development of the embryo, the expression levels further decreased gradually and remained only in some pharyngeal regions or the tail bud at the larva stage. Our results suggest that the Wnt/β-catenin pathway might be involved in amphioxus somite formation and posterior growth, but not in endomesoderm specification.