BIOQUANT Center, Cluster of Excellence - CellNetworks, Heidelberg, University of Heidelberg, Im Neuenheimer Feld 267, D-69120 Heidelberg, Germany.
Eur J Cell Biol. 2010 Feb-Mar;89(2-3):273-8. doi: 10.1016/j.ejcb.2009.11.012. Epub 2009 Dec 16.
Hox genes code for conserved homeodomain transcription factors, which act as regional regulators for the specification of segmental identities along the anterior-posterior axis in all animals studied. They execute their function mainly through the activation or repression of their downstream genes. We have recently identified a large number of genes to be directly or indirectly targeted by Hox proteins through gene expression profiling in the model organism Drosophila. However, the cell-specific regulation of these downstream genes and the functional significance of the regulation are largely unknown. We have validated and functionally studied many of the newly identified downstream genes of the Hox proteins Deformed (Dfd) and Abdominal-B (Abd-B), and provide evidence that Hox proteins regulate a diverse group of downstream genes, from transcription factors to realisators with major and minor roles during morphogenesis.
Hox 基因编码保守的同源域转录因子，它们作为区域调节因子，在所有研究的动物中沿前后轴特异性调节节段身份。它们主要通过激活或抑制其下游基因来发挥作用。我们最近通过在模式生物果蝇中的基因表达谱分析，鉴定了大量的直接或间接受 Hox 蛋白靶向的基因。然而，这些下游基因的细胞特异性调节及其功能意义在很大程度上是未知的。我们已经验证并对 Hox 蛋白 Deformed（Dfd）和 Abdominal-B（Abd-B）的许多新鉴定的下游基因进行了功能研究，并提供了证据表明 Hox 蛋白调节了一组多样化的下游基因，从转录因子到形态发生过程中具有主要和次要作用的实现者。
