Frankfort B J, Nolo R, Zhang Z, Bellen H, Mardon G
Department of Molecular and Human Genetics, One Baylor Plaza, Houston, TX 77030, USA.
Neuron. 2001 Nov 8;32(3):403-14. doi: 10.1016/s0896-6273(01)00480-9.
An outstanding model to study how neurons differentiate from among a field of equipotent undifferentiated cells is the process of R8 photoreceptor differentiation during Drosophila eye development. We show that in senseless mutant tissue, R8 differentiation fails and the presumptive R8 cell adopts the R2/R5 fate. We identify senseless repression of rough in R8 as an essential mechanism of R8 cell fate determination and demonstrate that misexpression of senseless in non-R8 photoreceptors results in repression of rough and induction of the R8 fate. Surprisingly, there is no loss of ommatidial clusters in senseless mutant tissue and all outer photoreceptor subtypes can be recruited, suggesting that other photoreceptors can substitute for R8 to initiate recruitment and that R8-specific signaling is not required for outer photoreceptor subtype assignment. A genetic model of R8 differentiation is presented.
研究神经元如何从一群等效的未分化细胞中分化出来的一个杰出模型,是果蝇眼睛发育过程中R8光感受器的分化过程。我们发现,在无意义突变组织中,R8分化失败,假定的R8细胞采用了R2/R5命运。我们确定无意义对R8中粗糙基因的抑制是R8细胞命运决定的一个关键机制,并证明在非R8光感受器中错误表达无意义会导致粗糙基因的抑制和R8命运的诱导。令人惊讶的是,在无意义突变组织中小眼簇并未缺失,并且所有外周光感受器亚型都可以被招募,这表明其他光感受器可以替代R8来启动招募,并且外周光感受器亚型的分配不需要R8特异性信号传导。本文提出了一个R8分化的遗传模型。