Horner M A, Quintin S, Domeier M E, Kimble J, Labouesse M, Mango S E
Huntsman Cancer Institute, Center for Children, Department of Oncological Sciences, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 USA.
Genes Dev. 1998 Jul 1;12(13):1947-52. doi: 10.1101/gad.12.13.1947.
To build complex organs, embryos have evolved mechanisms that integrate the development of cells unrelated to one another by cell type or ancestry. Here we show that the pha-4 locus establishes organ identity for the Caenorhabditis elegans pharynx. In pha-4 mutants, pharyngeal cells are transformed into ectoderm. Conversely, ectopic pha-4 expression produces excess pharyngeal cells. pha-4 encodes an HNF-3 homolog selectively expressed in the nascent digestive tract, including all pharynx precursors at the time they are restricted to a pharyngeal fate. We suggest that pha-4 is a key component of a transcription-based mechanism to endow cells with pharyngeal organ identity.
为构建复杂器官,胚胎进化出了一些机制,这些机制能整合彼此在细胞类型或谱系上不相关的细胞的发育过程。在此我们表明,pha-4基因座为秀丽隐杆线虫的咽建立了器官身份。在pha-4突变体中,咽细胞会转变为外胚层细胞。相反,异位表达pha-4会产生过多的咽细胞。pha-4编码一种HNF-3同源物,该同源物在新生消化道中选择性表达,包括所有咽前体细胞,此时它们已被限定为咽命运。我们认为,pha-4是一种基于转录的机制的关键组成部分,该机制赋予细胞咽器官身份。