位置信息与植物发育

位置信息是植物发育的重要机制之一, 它在植物体的模式建成、细胞的分化及细胞命运的抉择过程中起重要作用。近些年的研究从细胞壁、激素、可扩散因子和非转录DNA等角度对这一问题进行了大量探索, 成为植物发育生物学的一个热点领域。本文试对此作一简要介绍。     

植物发育性细胞程序死亡的发生机制

细胞程序死亡是多细胞生物体在内源发育信号或外源环境信号作用下在特定时间和空间发生的细胞死亡过程, 在植物的生长发育过程中起着重要作用。该文介绍了植物细胞程序死亡类型的几种划分方法、植物发育性细胞程序死亡研究常用的实验体系, 并着重概述有关植物发育性细胞程序死亡发生机制的研究进展。     

松杉类植物体细胞胚发育机理的研究进展

植物体细胞胚胎发生不仅可作为其繁育的重要手段,而且也是研究胚胎发育过程的一种重要模式系统.体细胞胚在形态和生理上的成熟,直接影响到植株的萌发和再生频率.本文综述了近年来国内外有关裸子植物中几种松杉类植物体细胞胚发育过程的研究报道,其中主要涉及培养基成分和脱落酸(ABA)对体细胞胚发育的影响,以及体细胞胚发育在细胞学、细胞程序性死亡、相关基因和蛋白质组学等方面的研究进展,并进一步讨论了松杉类植物体细胞胚的发育机理,以及体细胞胚在遗传转化系统中的作用.     

植物干细胞的形成与维持最新综述

植物干细胞是一群具有自我更新能力并能够不断产生各种分化细胞的原始细胞,是植物各种组织和器官的细胞来源。植物干细胞研究不仅是植物发育生物学核心研究命题,也是作物分子遗传改良和植物生物技术产业化的重要基础。植物干细胞主要位于根尖和茎尖的分生组织以及形成层,在植物整个生命周期中保持其多能状态,并控制着植物的生长和发育。     

植物管状分子发育中的细胞凋亡

细胞凋亡在植物发育过程和防御机制中发挥着重要作用.植物细胞凋亡具有染色质固缩和边缘化、DNA片断化、核的降解、质膜内缩、大量囊泡的出现、细胞壁的修饰等特征,是由相关的基因、蛋白酶以及细胞色素C介导和调控的.本文根据国内外的研究报道,对两种管状分子(导管、筛管)发育过程中细胞凋亡的形态学变化以及机制进行分析,为进一步探讨细胞凋亡的途径和机制提供参考.     

植物发育过程中的细胞程序性死亡

细胞程序性死亡(PCD)是植物发育过程中必不可少的一部分,近年来对植物发育过程中的细胞程序性死亡机制的研究已经广泛开展。植物发育过程中的PCD对植物自身形态建成和组织分化有重要意义。一般认为动、植物的PCD有很大的相似性,但植物发育过程也有着独特的PCD机制,例如依靠有裂解功能的液泡来参与PCD。通过比较植物和其他生物发育过程中的PCD,可对植物发育过程中PCD的特征有着更深入的了解。说明植物发育过程中PCD的研究将在理论和生产上有重大意义。     

细胞壁在细胞极性建立和胚胎发生中的作用

植物细胞壁是一个活性的动态结构,其结构层次与组分随着发育进程而发生变化,且广泛参与细胞的各项生命活动,特别是在参与细胞命运决定、充当细胞发育信使、调控植物胚胎早期极性建立以及模式建成等方面发挥重要作用。     

活性氧调控植物生长发育的研究进展

活性氧(ROS)是植物有氧代谢过程中的副产物, 它在植物的许多生命过程中均具有有害和有利的双重功能。ROS对细胞的氧化损伤作用和信号转导诱导植物防卫反应已有详尽的研究。近年来, 越来越多的关于ROS调控植物生长发育的证据开始引起了人们的广泛关注。细胞的生长是植物发育的重要部分, ROS通过直接或间接调节细胞的生长来控制植物的发育, 成为植物发育的重要调节剂。该文综述了羟自由基(.OH)及其前体超氧阴离子自由基(O2^–. )和过氧化氢(H₂O₂)调控植物生长发育的研究进展, 包括ROS调控植物不同器官生长的证据和机理、ROS产生的途径及其检测方法, 同时对今后的研究进行了展望。     

植物细胞凋亡的检测方法

细胞凋亡是一种在动、植物中普遍存在的现象,在动、植物的发育过程中起着非常重要的作用。从形态学、生化及分子生物学、免疫学、生理学等方面介绍了几种检测细胞凋亡的方法,以及各种方法在检测不同植物凋亡时的应用,并对植物细胞凋亡检测技术的前景进行了展望。     

第二讲 高等植物酶合成的调节——基因表达

一、序言植物体许多重要的生理过程如发育、分化,对环境条件的反应等无不与基因的活动相联系。高等植物细胞全能性的发现,证实了植物细胞中含有全套的遗传信息,至于细胞中特异的遗传信息的表达,则是受内部和     

Global and local mechanisms of forebrain and midbrain patterning

During the past years, major advances have been made in understanding the sequential events involved in neural plate patterning. Positional information is already conferred to cells of the neural plate at the time of its induction in the ectoderm. The interplay between the BMP- and the Fgf- signaling pathways leads to the induction of neural cell fates. Thus, neural induction and neural plate patterning are overlapping processes. Later, at the end of gastrulation, positional cell identities within the neural plate are refined and maintained by the action of several neural plate organizers. By locally emitting signaling molecules, they influence the fate of the developing nervous system with high regional specificity. Recent advances have been made both in understanding the mechanisms that dictate the relative position of these organizers and in how signaling molecules spread from them with high spatial and temporal resolution.     

Positional information in neural map development: lessons from the olfactory system

Positional information is fundamental in development. Although molecular gradients are thought to represent positional information in various systems, the molecular logic used to interpret these gradients remains controversial. In the nervous system, sensory maps are formed in the brain based on gradients of axon guidance molecules. However, it remains unclear how axons find their targets based on relative, not absolute, expression levels of axon guidance receptors. No model solely based on axon-target interactions explains this point. Recent studies in the olfactory system suggested that the neural map formation requires axon-axon interactions, which is known as axon sorting. This review discusses how axon-axon and axon-target interactions interpret molecular gradients and determine the axonal projection sites in neural map formation.     

Positional information and pattern formation

Spatial patterns of cellular differentiation may arise from cells first being assigned a position, as in a coordinate system, and then interpreting the positional value that they have acquired. This interpretation will depend on their genetic constitution and developmental history. Different patterns may thus arise from similar positional fields. The specification of positional value may involve a positional signal, such as the concentration of a diffusible morphogen, but can also depend on how long the cells remain in a particular region, such as a progress zone. Positional values may also be acquired by direct transfer from one cell layer to another, as in directed embryonic induction. Positional value, unlike a positional signal, involves long-term memory, and can be regarded as a type of cell determination. Cells of the same differentiation class may have different positional values and may thus be non-equivalent. Evidence is presented for a signal providing positional information along the antero-posterior axis during chick limb development. This signal has properties similar to those of a diffusible morphogen.     

The role of DIF-1 signaling in Dictyostelium development

We have constructed a mutant blocked in the biosynthesis of DIF-1, a chlorinated signal molecule proposed to induce differentiation of both major prestalk cell types formed during Dictyostelium development. Surprisingly, the mutant still forms slugs retaining one prestalk cell type, the pstA cells, and can form mature stalk cells. However, the other major prestalk cell type, the pstO cells, is missing. Normal pstO cell differentiation and their patterning in the slug are restored by development on a uniform concentration of DIF-1. We conclude that pstO and pstA cells are in fact induced by separate signals and that DIF-1 is the pstO inducer. Positional information, in the form of DIF-1 gradients, is evidently not required for pstO cell induction.     

Signalling in cell type specification.

Positional information is an important determinant in the establishment of cellular identity in plants. It is established during pattern formation and is maintained in growing organs. Cells maintain the ability to respond to changes in positional information during development indicating that the mechanism for perceiving such information must remain intact until relatively late in development. Once positional cues are perceived they set in motion a number of cascades resulting in the differentiation of particular cell types in defined locations. The circuitry underpinning these later events is being teased out using genetics. Evidence is emerging for the existence of an array of both positive and negative genetic regulators from studies in a number of diverse plant model systems Copyright 1999 Academic Press.     

Endotoxin, toll-like receptor 4, and the afferent limb of innate immunity

Positional cloning work and subsequent biochemical analyses have revealed that Toll-like receptor 4 (Tlr4) transduces the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) signal, alerting the host to infection by Gram-negative bacteria. Moreover, it appears that the LPS sensing pathway is a solitary one: disruption of Tlr4 causes complete unresponsiveness to LPS. As several Tlr family members exist in vertebrates, it appears likely that the innate immune system defends the host by recognizing a small number of structurally conserved molecules that distinguish the microbial world from tissues of the host.     

Endoderm- and mesenchyme-dependent commitment of the differentiated epithelial cell types in the developing intestine of rat

During organogenesis, the intestinal tract progressively acquires a functional regionalization along the antero-posterior axis. Positional information needed for enterocytes has been studied, but the mechanisms that control Paneth and endocrine cell differentiation are poorly understood. We have used a model of endoderm/mesenchyme cross-associations to evaluate the respective roles of endoderm and mesenchyme in the cytodifferentiation of these epithelial cells. Heterotopic cross-associations comprising endoderm and mesenchyme from the presumptive proximal jejunum and colon were developed as xenografts in nude mice. Our results show that endoderm from the presumptive proximal jejunum when associated with colonic mesenchyme generate small intestinal enterocytes. Interestingly, no lysozyme-producing cells were generated. On the other hand, associations comprising colon endoderm and jejunal mesenchyme showed heterodifferentiation with typical small intestinal morphology with sucrase-isomaltase expression and Paneth cell differentiation. Heterotopic associations developed enteroendocrine cell patterns according to the normal fate of the endodermal moiety. As enteroendocrine cell commitment seems to occur before the other intestinal cell types, we cannot exclude a role of instructive signals from the mesenchyme on endocrine cell differentiation earlier in the development. These results identified a complex pattern of cell commitment, dependent of the differentiation type of the epithelial cell, on the regional origin of the endoderm and the associated mesenchyme.     

Understanding positional cues in salamander limb regeneration: implications for optimizing cell-based regenerative therapies

Regenerative medicine has reached the point where we are performing clinical trials with stem-cell-derived cell populations in an effort to treat numerous human pathologies. However, many of these efforts have been challenged by the inability of the engrafted populations to properly integrate into the host environment to make a functional biological unit. It is apparent that we must understand the basic biology of tissue integration in order to apply these principles to the development of regenerative therapies in humans. Studying tissue integration in model organisms, where the process of integration between the newly regenerated tissues and the ‘old’ existing structures can be observed and manipulated, can provide valuable insights. Embryonic and adult cells have a memory of their original position, and this positional information can modify surrounding tissues and drive the formation of new structures. In this Review, we discuss the positional interactions that control the ability of grafted cells to integrate into existing tissues during the process of salamander limb regeneration, and discuss how these insights could explain the integration defects observed in current cell-based regenerative therapies. Additionally, we describe potential molecular tools that can be used to manipulate the positional information in grafted cell populations, and to promote the communication of positional cues in the host environment to facilitate the integration of engrafted cells. Lastly, we explain how studying positional information in current cell-based therapies and in regenerating limbs could provide key insights to improve the integration of cell-based regenerative therapies in the future.KEY WORDS: Integration, Limb regeneration, Positional information, Regenerative medicine, Stem cell     

Regulative feedback in pattern formation: towards a general relativistic theory of positional information

Positional specification by morphogen gradients is traditionally viewed as a two-step process. A gradient is formed and then interpreted, providing a spatial metric independent of the target tissue, similar to the concept of space in classical mechanics. However, the formation and interpretation of gradients are coupled, dynamic processes. We introduce a conceptual framework for positional specification in which cellular activity feeds back on positional information encoded by gradients, analogous to the feedback between mass-energy distribution and the geometry of space-time in Einstein's general theory of relativity. We discuss how such general relativistic positional information (GRPI) can guide systems-level approaches to pattern formation.