Fini M E, Strissel K J, West-Mays J A
Department of Ophthalmology, New England Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts 02111, USA.
Dev Genet. 1997;20(3):175-85. doi: 10.1002/(SICI)1520-6408(1997)20:3<175::AID-DVG1>3.0.CO;2-4.
The lens of the vertebrate eye was the classic model used to demonstrate the concepts of inductive interactions controlling development. However, it is in the Drosophila model that the greatest progress in understanding molecular mechanisms of eye development have most recently been mode. This progress can be attributed to the power of molecular genetics, an approach that was once confined to simpler systems like worms and flies, but is now becoming possible in vertebrates. Thus, the use of transgenic and knock-out gene technology, coupled with the availability of new positional cloning methods, has recently initiated a surge of progress in the mouse genetic model and has also led to the identification of genes involved in human inherited disorders. In addition, gene transfer techniques have opened up opportunities for progress using chick, Xenopus, and other classic developmental systems. Finally, a new vertebrate genetic model, zebrafish, appears very promising for molecular studies. As a result of the opportunities presented by these new approaches, eye development has come into the limelight, hence the timeliness of this focus issue of Developmental Genetics. In this introductory review, we discuss three areas of current work arising through the use of these newer genetic approaches, and pertinent to research articles presented herein. We also touch on related studies reported at the first Keystone Meeting on Ocular Cell and Molecular Biology, recently held in Tamarron Springs, Colorado, January 7-12, 1997.
脊椎动物眼睛的晶状体是用于阐释控制发育的诱导性相互作用概念的经典模型。然而，最近在理解眼睛发育分子机制方面取得最大进展的却是果蝇模型。这一进展可归因于分子遗传学的强大力量，这种方法曾局限于蠕虫和苍蝇等较为简单的系统，但如今在脊椎动物中也变得可行。因此，转基因和基因敲除技术的应用，再加上新的定位克隆方法的出现，最近在小鼠遗传模型中引发了一股研究热潮，还促成了对人类遗传疾病相关基因的识别。此外，基因转移技术为利用鸡、非洲爪蟾及其他经典发育系统开展研究带来了进展机遇。最后，一种新的脊椎动物遗传模型——斑马鱼，在分子研究方面似乎前景广阔。由于这些新方法带来的机遇，眼睛发育已成为焦点，因此本期《发育遗传学》聚焦特刊恰逢其时。在这篇引言性综述中，我们将探讨因使用这些更新的遗传方法而产生的当前三个研究领域，它们与本文所呈现的研究文章相关。我们还会提及在1997年1月7日至12日于科罗拉多州塔马伦温泉市召开的首届眼细胞与分子生物学基石会议上所报告的相关研究。
