Kanamori A, Brown D D
Department of Embryology, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Baltimore, MD 21210, USA.
Genes Cells. 1996 May;1(5):429-35. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2443.1996.d01-251.x.
Metamorphosis in frogs and toads is a set of complex developmental programmes controlled by thyroid hormone (TH). The pervasive and dramatic changes that occur as a tadpole turns into a frog have captured the attention of life scientists from many disciplines. For evolutionary biologists, the extent to which related organisms incorporate metamorphosis in their life cycle is of paramount interest. For specialists who study cell death, a burgeoning field of research interest, apoptosis is a major event in metamorphosis. It can be induced in many tissues, even in whole organs, by TH. For endocrinologists, TH-induced metamorphosis is a model for the general problem of the molecular basis of TH action and the interaction of the hypothalamus, the pituitary and the thyroid glands. However, the emphasis in this essay is the use of amphibian metamorphosis to study complex developmental programmes such as vertebrate organogenesis which can be initiated by the simple addition of TH to the tadpole's rearing water.
青蛙和蟾蜍的变态是由甲状腺激素（TH）控制的一系列复杂的发育程序。蝌蚪变成青蛙时发生的广泛而显著的变化吸引了许多学科的生命科学家的关注。对于进化生物学家来说，相关生物在其生命周期中纳入变态的程度是至关重要的研究兴趣点。对于研究细胞死亡（一个新兴的研究热点领域）的专家来说，细胞凋亡是变态过程中的一个主要事件。它可以由TH在许多组织中诱导，甚至在整个器官中诱导。对于内分泌学家来说，TH诱导的变态是TH作用的分子基础以及下丘脑、垂体和甲状腺相互作用这一普遍问题的一个模型。然而，本文的重点是利用两栖动物变态来研究复杂的发育程序，如脊椎动物器官发生，这可以通过在蝌蚪饲养水中简单添加TH来启动。
