Malicki J
Dept of Ophthalmology, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02134, USA. www.howelaboratory.harvard.edu/malicki/htm
Trends Neurosci. 2000 Nov;23(11):531-41. doi: 10.1016/s0166-2236(00)01655-6.
The seven major cell classes of the vertebrate retina are organized with remarkable precision into distinct layers. The appearance of this architecture during embryogenesis raises two questions of general importance. How do individual cell classes acquire their specialized structures and functions if they all originate from a morphologically uniform cell population? What mechanisms are responsible for the formation of such a complex and exact pattern? Recent advances present an opportunity to apply the tools of forward genetic analysis to identify mutations that affect these mechanisms in zebrafish. Molecular characterization will follow, providing insight into the basis of neuronal patterning in the vertebrate CNS.
脊椎动物视网膜的七种主要细胞类型以极高的精度组织成不同的层。这种结构在胚胎发育过程中的出现引发了两个具有普遍重要性的问题。如果所有细胞类型都起源于形态上一致的细胞群体，那么它们是如何获得其特化的结构和功能的呢？形成如此复杂而精确模式的机制是什么？最近的进展提供了一个机会，可以应用正向遗传分析工具来鉴定影响斑马鱼中这些机制的突变。随后将进行分子特征分析，以深入了解脊椎动物中枢神经系统中神经元模式形成的基础。
