Birchmeier C, Sonnenberg E, Weidner K M, Walter B
Max-Delbrück-Laboratorium, Max-Planck-Gesellschaft, Köln, Germany.
Bioessays. 1993 Mar;15(3):185-90. doi: 10.1002/bies.950150307.
The c-ros, c-met and c-neu genes encode receptor-type tyrosine kinases and were originally identified because of their oncogenic potential. However, recent progress in the analysis of these receptors and their respective ligands indicate that they do not mediate exclusively mitogenic signals. Rather, they can induce cell movement, differentiation or morphogenesis of epithelial cells in culture. Interestingly, the discussed receptors are expressed in embryonal epithelia, whereas direct and indirect evidence shows that the corresponding ligands are produced in mesenchymal cells. In development, signals given by mesenchymal cells are major driving forces for differentiation and morphogenesis of epithelia; embryonal epithelia are generally unable to differentiate without the appropriate mesenchymal factors. The observed activities of these receptor/ligand systems in cultured cells and their expression patterns indicate that they regulate epithelial differentiation and morphogenesis also during embryogenesis and suggest thus a molecular basis for mesenchymal epithelial interactions.
c-ros、c-met和c-neu基因编码受体型酪氨酸激酶，最初因其致癌潜力而被鉴定出来。然而，最近对这些受体及其各自配体的分析进展表明，它们并非仅介导有丝分裂信号。相反，它们可以诱导培养的上皮细胞发生细胞运动、分化或形态发生。有趣的是，所讨论的受体在胚胎上皮中表达，而直接和间接证据表明相应的配体是由间充质细胞产生的。在发育过程中，间充质细胞发出的信号是上皮细胞分化和形态发生的主要驱动力；胚胎上皮在没有适当间充质因子的情况下通常无法分化。这些受体/配体系统在培养细胞中的观察到的活性及其表达模式表明，它们在胚胎发育过程中也调节上皮细胞的分化和形态发生，从而为间充质-上皮相互作用提供了分子基础。
