[Progress in research of genes controlling development of respiratory centers]

The respiratory centers in the brainstem form a complex network which generates and controls the process of rhythmic respiration. It was reported in the past decade that a targeted gene inactivation of some transcription factors could specifically affect the development of some groups of neurons in the brainstem and then resulted in distinct respiratory phenotypes. Recently, corresponding mutations were discovered in some human central respiratory disorders. Therefore the study at gene level is obviously a new pathway for investigating the mechanism of genesis and regulation of the rhythmic respiratory activity. This review focuses on the recent progress in research of some regulatory genes participating in the development of respiratory centers.