Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
Faculty of Biology, University of Warsaw, Warsaw, Poland.
Curr Top Dev Biol. 2018;128:105-149. doi: 10.1016/bs.ctdb.2017.10.010. Epub 2017 Dec 2.
The striking developmental plasticity of early mammalian embryos has been known since the classical experiments performed in the 1950s and 1960s. There are many lines of evidence that the mammalian embryo is able to continue normal development even when exposed to severe experimental manipulations of the number and position of cells within the embryo. These observations have raised the question about the mechanisms involved in emergence, maintenance, and progressive restriction of this plasticity. Only recently, we have begun to understand these mechanisms. In this review, in order to explain the molecular and cellular events underlying the remarkable plasticity of the early mammalian embryo, we discuss results of classical experiments demonstrating developmental potential of mammalian embryos and link them with the novel data provided by contemporary experimental approaches. We also show how developmental flexibility of mammalian embryos is manifested in nature, and discuss its implications for basic research and medicine.
自 20 世纪 50 年代和 60 年代进行的经典实验以来，人们就已经知道早期哺乳动物胚胎具有惊人的发育可塑性。有许多证据表明，哺乳动物胚胎即使受到胚胎内细胞数量和位置的严重实验操作的影响，也能够继续正常发育。这些观察结果提出了一个问题，即涉及这种可塑性出现、维持和逐渐限制的机制是什么。直到最近，我们才开始了解这些机制。在这篇综述中，为了解释早期哺乳动物胚胎显著的可塑性所涉及的分子和细胞事件，我们讨论了证明哺乳动物胚胎发育潜力的经典实验结果，并将其与当代实验方法提供的新数据联系起来。我们还展示了哺乳动物胚胎的发育灵活性在自然界中是如何表现的，并讨论了它对基础研究和医学的意义。
