在海藻中Wnt基因家族的意想不到的复杂性
Arne Kusserow1, Kevin Pang, Carsten Sturm
1Institute of Zoology, Darmstadt University of Technology, Schnittspahnstrasse 10, D-64287 Darmstadt, Germany.
Nature
|January 15, 2005
概括
这是Wnt基因家族.
科学领域:
- 进化发育生物学 进化发育生物学
- 基因组学就是基因组学.
- 分子生物学分子生物学
背景情况:
- 该Wnt基因家族编码的分泌信号分子对动物发育和疾病至关重要.
- 甲状动物特异性Wnt基因家族的进化历史在很大程度上仍然未知.
- 之前的研究已经在脊椎动物中发现了12个Wnt子家族,在Ecdysozoa中只发现了6个.
研究的目的:
- 研究Wnt基因家族的祖先多样性和进化.
- 鉴定类动物中Wnt基因的特征,这代表了早期的甲动物血统.
- 了解多细胞动物中Wnt信号的早期演变.
主要方法:
- 从海Nematostella vectensis中分离和识别Wnt基因.
- 遗传学分析以确定Wnt基因关系和子家族保护.
- 在N. vectensis胚胎发生过程中分析Wnt基因表达模式.
主要成果:
- 在Nematostella vectensis中发现了12个Wnt基因,这表明了显著的祖先多样性.
- 遗传学分析显示,至少有11个Wnt亚家族是cnidarians和bilaterians之间共享的.
- 五个Wnt亚系似乎在原生体血统中消失了.
- 在胚胎发生过程中Wnt基因表达突出突出了胃化和初级轴形成中的作用.
结论:
- 在早期的多细胞动物中,Wnt基因家族的复杂性比以前想象的要大,早于坎布里亚爆炸.
- 这些发现表明Wnt基因在早期eumetazoan体型规划的多样化中起着至关重要的作用.
- 这项研究为Wnt信号的深层进化历史提供了新的见解.
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The gene encoding the main signaling molecules of the Wnt signaling pathways (the Wnt proteins) was discovered almost four decades ago by Nüsslein-Volhard and Wieschaus. They identified and originally named the gene "wingless" (wg) after a phenotype discovered during their landmark genetic screen in Drosophila for body pattern defects. At around the same time, another researcher named Harold Varmus found that a murine tumor virus activates the mammalian wg homolog, Int-1, which results in tumor...
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