Kimmel Alan R, Firtel Richard A
Laboratory of Cellular and Developmental Biology, National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK), National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892-8028, USA.
Curr Opin Genet Dev. 2004 Oct;14(5):540-9. doi: 10.1016/j.gde.2004.08.001.
Dictyostelium discoideum grow unicellularly, but develop as multicellular organisms. At two stages of development, their underlying symmetrical pattern of cellular organization becomes disrupted. During the formation of the multicellular aggregate, individual non-polarized cells re-organize their cytoskeletal structures to sequester specific intracellular signaling elements for activation by and directed movement within chemoattractant gradients. Subsequently, response to secreted morphogens directs undifferentiated populations to adopt different cell fates. Using a combination of cellular, biochemical and molecular approaches, workers have now begun to understand the mechanisms that permit Dictyostelium (and other chemotactic cells) to move directionally in shallow chemoattractant gradients and the transcriptional regulatory pathways that polarize cell-fate choice and initiate pattern formation.
盘基网柄菌以单细胞形式生长，但发育为多细胞生物体。在发育的两个阶段，其细胞组织的潜在对称模式会被破坏。在多细胞聚集体形成过程中，单个非极化细胞会重新组织其细胞骨架结构，以隔离特定的细胞内信号元件，以便在趋化因子梯度中被激活并进行定向移动。随后，对分泌形态发生素的反应引导未分化群体采用不同的细胞命运。通过结合细胞、生化和分子方法，研究人员现已开始了解使盘基网柄菌（以及其他趋化细胞）在浅趋化因子梯度中定向移动的机制，以及使细胞命运选择极化并启动模式形成的转录调控途径。
