Tanaka Elly M
Max-Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Pfotenhauerstrasse 108, Dresden 01307, Germany.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2003 Oct;13(5):497-501. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2003.08.003.
One of the most striking natural examples of adult tissue plasticity in vertebrates is limb and tail regeneration in urodele amphibians. In this setting, amputation triggers the destabilization of cell differentiation and the production of progenitor cells that extensively proliferate and pattern themselves to recreate a perfect replica of the missing part. A precise understanding of which cells dedifferentiate and how plastic they become has recently begun to emerge. Furthermore, information on which developmental gene programs are activated upon injury is becoming better understood. These studies indicate that, upon injury, an unusual cohort of genes are co-expressed. The future challenge will be to link the systems for studying dedifferentiation with activation of gene expression to understand on a molecular level how cells are 'pushed backward' to regenerate a complex structure such as a limb or tail.
脊椎动物中成年组织可塑性最显著的自然例子之一是有尾两栖动物的肢体和尾巴再生。在这种情况下，截肢会引发细胞分化的不稳定以及祖细胞的产生，这些祖细胞会大量增殖并自我构建模式，以重新创造出缺失部分的完美复制品。最近，对于哪些细胞去分化以及它们的可塑性程度有了更精确的认识。此外，关于哪些发育基因程序在受伤时被激活的信息也越来越清晰。这些研究表明，受伤时，一组不同寻常的基因会共同表达。未来的挑战将是把研究去分化的系统与基因表达的激活联系起来，以便在分子水平上理解细胞是如何“逆向发展”来再生诸如肢体或尾巴这样的复杂结构的。
