Morohashi K
Laboratory of Gene Expression and Regulation, National Institute for Basic Biology, Myodaiji-cho, Okazaki, Japan.
Genes Cells. 1997 Feb;2(2):95-106. doi: 10.1046/j.1365-2443.1997.1060304.x.
Based on the common function of steroid hormone-producing tissues and homologous regulation by the hypothalamo-pituitary axis, the adrenal cortex and the gonads have been suggested to have an intimate ontogenic relationship. This assumption is also supported by the findings of common transcription factors implicated in the differentiation of both types of tissue and further supported by concomitant defects in such tissues due to the disruption of a single gene. Similarly, simultaneous anomalies in those tissues are also observed in some diseases caused by mutations of the genes encoding those transcription factors. A recent immunohistochemical study with one of the transcription factors, Ad4BP/SF-1, definitely demonstrated the presence of a particular cell population designated the 'adreno-genital primordium (AGP)' which gives rise to both the adrenal cortex and the gonads. In the process of differentiation from the AGP to the mature adrenal cortex and the gonads of the two sexes, several interesting issues can be raised as to the next targets for the study. To address these issues it is important to elucidate the upstream regulatory mechanisms and downstream target genes of such transcription factors as WT1, SRY, SOX9 and DAX1, in addition to Ad4BP/SF-1, all of which are implicated in steroidogenic tissue differentiation.
基于产生类固醇激素的组织的共同功能以及下丘脑-垂体轴的同源调节，有人提出肾上腺皮质和性腺在个体发生上存在密切关系。这一假设也得到了两种组织分化中涉及的共同转录因子研究结果的支持，并且由于单个基因的破坏导致这些组织出现伴随缺陷，这进一步支持了该假设。同样，在由编码这些转录因子的基因突变引起的一些疾病中，也观察到了这些组织的同时异常。最近一项针对转录因子之一Ad4BP/SF-1的免疫组织化学研究明确证实了存在一种特定的细胞群，称为“肾上腺-生殖原基（AGP）”，它会发育成肾上腺皮质和性腺。在从AGP分化为成熟的肾上腺皮质和两性性腺的过程中，关于下一步的研究目标可以提出几个有趣的问题。为了解决这些问题，除了Ad4BP/SF-1之外，阐明WT1、SRY、SOX9和DAX1等转录因子的上游调控机制和下游靶基因很重要，所有这些转录因子都与类固醇生成组织的分化有关。
