Embryologie Moléculaire et Cellulaire Animale, Institut des Sciences de la Vie, Université catholique de Louvain, Louvain-la-Neuve, Belgium.
Dev Dyn. 2012 Nov;241(11):1827-39. doi: 10.1002/dvdy.23873. Epub 2012 Oct 10.
Three amino acid loop extension (TALE) homeodomain-containing transcription factors are generally recognized for their role in organogenesis and differentiation during embryogenesis. However, very little is known about the expression and function of Meis, Pbx, and Prep genes during early development.
In order to determine whether TALE proteins could contribute to the early cell fate decisions in mammalian development, this study aimed to characterize in a systematic manner the pattern of expression of all Meis, Pbx, and Prep genes from the precompaction to blastocyst stage corresponding to the first step of cell differentiation in mammals. To reveal to what extent TALE genes expression at these early stages is a conserved feature among mammals, this study was performed in parallel in the bovine and mouse models. We demonstrated the transcription and translation of TALE genes, before gastrulation in the two species. At least one member of Meis, Pbx, and Prep subfamilies was found expressed at the RNA and protein levels but different patterns of expression were observed between genes and between species, suggesting specific gene regulations.
Taken together, these results suggest a previously unexpected involvement of these factors during the early development in mammals.
三氨基酸环延伸（TALE）同源域转录因子通常因其在胚胎发生过程中的器官发生和分化中的作用而被认可。然而，关于 Meis、Pbx 和 Prep 基因在早期发育中的表达和功能知之甚少。
为了确定 TALE 蛋白是否有助于哺乳动物发育中的早期细胞命运决定，本研究旨在系统地表征所有 Meis、Pbx 和 Prep 基因从预浓缩到囊胚阶段的表达模式，这些阶段对应于哺乳动物中细胞分化的第一步。为了揭示 TALE 基因在这些早期阶段的表达在哺乳动物中是多么普遍的特征，本研究在牛和鼠模型中平行进行。我们证明了 TALE 基因在两种物种的原肠胚形成之前的转录和翻译。在 RNA 和蛋白质水平上都发现了至少一个 Meis、Pbx 和 Prep 亚家族的成员表达，但基因之间和物种之间观察到不同的表达模式，表明存在特定的基因调控。
综上所述，这些结果表明这些因子在哺乳动物的早期发育中存在以前未预料到的参与。
