Department of Craniofacial Development and Stem Cell Biology, King's College London , Floor 27, Guy's Tower, London Bridge, London SE1 9RT , UK.
Biol Open. 2013 Aug 9;2(10):981-9. doi: 10.1242/bio.20135306. eCollection 2013.
Salivary glands provide an excellent model for the study of epithelial-mesenchymal interactions. We have looked at the interactions involved in the early initiation and development of murine salivary glands using classic recombination experiments and knockout mice. We show that salivary gland epithelium, at thickening and initial bud stages, is able to direct salivary gland development in non-gland pharyngeal arch mesenchyme at early stages. The early salivary gland epithelium is therefore able to induce gland development in non-gland tissue. This ability later shifts to the mesenchyme, with non-gland epithelium, such as from the limb bud, able to form a branching gland when combined with pseudoglandular stage gland mesenchyme. This shift appears to involve Fgf signalling, with signals from the epithelium inducing Fgf10 in the mesenchyme. Fgf10 then signals back to the epithelium to direct gland down-growth and bud development. These experiments highlight the importance of epithelial-mesenchymal signalling in gland initiation, controlling where, when and how many salivary glands form.
唾液腺为研究上皮-间充质相互作用提供了一个极好的模型。我们利用经典的重组实验和基因敲除小鼠，研究了参与鼠类唾液腺早期起始和发育的相互作用。我们发现，在增厚和初始芽期，唾液腺上皮能够在早期引导非腺体咽弓间充质中的唾液腺发育。因此，早期的唾液腺上皮能够诱导非腺体组织中的腺体发育。这种能力后来转移到间充质中，非腺体上皮，如来自肢芽的上皮，与假腺期腺体间充质结合时能够形成分支状腺体。这种转变似乎涉及 Fgf 信号通路，上皮发出的信号诱导间充质中 Fgf10 的表达。Fgf10 然后向上皮发出信号，指导腺体向下生长和芽的发育。这些实验强调了上皮-间充质信号在腺体起始中的重要性，控制着唾液腺形成的位置、时间和数量。
