Institute of Molecular Biology, University of Zurich.
Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol. 2010 Jan;2(1):a001669. doi: 10.1101/cshperspect.a001669.
Morphogen gradients play a fundamental role in organ patterning and organ growth. Unlike their role in patterning, their function in regulating the growth and the size of organs is poorly understood. How and why do morphogen gradients exert their mitogenic effects to generate uniform proliferation in developing organs, and by what means can morphogens impinge on the final size of organs? The decapentaplegic (Dpp) gradient in the Drosophila wing imaginal disc has emerged as a suitable and established system to study organ growth. Here, we review models and recent findings that attempt to address how the Dpp morphogen contributes to uniform proliferation of cells, and how it may regulate the final size of wing discs.
形态发生梯度在器官模式形成和器官生长中起着基本作用。与它们在模式形成中的作用不同，它们在调节器官的生长和大小中的功能知之甚少。形态发生梯度如何以及为何发挥有丝分裂效应，以在发育器官中产生均匀增殖，以及形态发生素如何影响器官的最终大小？果蝇翅 imaginal 盘中的 decapentaplegic (Dpp) 梯度已成为研究器官生长的合适且成熟的系统。在这里，我们回顾了试图解决 Dpp 形态发生素如何有助于细胞均匀增殖以及如何调节翅膀盘最终大小的模型和最新发现。
