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【bio-news】Sox17基因在胚胎干细胞分化为肌细胞的
Public release date: 26-Feb-2007
Sox17 required for steps from embryonic to heart muscle cell
An important choreographer of the complicated dance of signals, enzymes and proteins that takes embryonic stem cells through the steps to becoming a beating heart muscle cell is the gene Sox17, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
To be precise, Sox17 is critical in transforming primitive mesoderm (an early layer of tissue in the embryo) into the more specialized cardiac mesoderm from which heart muscle develops, said Dr. Michael Schneider, senior researcher of the report.
"Heart muscle formation by embryonic stem cells is a complex, multi-step process," said Schneider, professor of medicine, molecular and cellular biology, and molecular physiology and biophysics at Baylor College of Medicine. "We have succeeded in uncoupling the formation of cardiac mesoderm from its antecedent steps. That discovery provides immediate insight into how one might seek to generate cardiac muscle more effectively from embryonic stem cells."
"One of the major challenges is the very meager ability of the heart muscle to restore itself after cell death," said Schneider. Heart muscle cells die acutely during heart attacks and sporadically in chronic heart failure.
"Identifying stem cells that can be encouraged along the path to becoming heart muscle is a paramount scientific goal," he said.
Embryonic stem cells are a potential source because they have the potential of becoming every type of cell in the body. However, much research remains before scientists can outline a blueprint for how these totally undifferentiated cells can be guided to the "fate" of becoming heart muscle selectively.
Schneider and his colleagues used proteins that block certain signals for cell specialization at the surface of mouse embryonic stem cells to pinpoint early steps that lead to the development of heart muscle. Then, using "gene chip" technology to measure the expression of 40,000 mouse genes simultaneously, Schneider and his colleagues identified the sudden expression of Sox17 as a potentially important step for the signals that lead to heart formation.
Using a technique called RNA interference, they then blocked the action of Sox17 in the embryonic stem cells. By doing so, they prevented the embryonic cells from becoming cardiac muscle, almost completely.
"Knocking down Sox17 (reducing expression of the gene) had a dramatic effect, both on genes for structural components of the heart and also genes for transcription factors that turn on the cardiac fate," said Schneider. Public release date: 26-Feb-2007
公开发行日期：2007年2月26
Sox17 required for steps from embryonic to heart muscle cell
Sox17基因在胚胎干细胞分化为心肌细胞的过程中起着关键作用
An important choreographer of the complicated dance of signals, enzymes and proteins that takes embryonic stem cells through the steps to becoming a beating heart muscle cell is the gene Sox17, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in a report in the current issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Baylor医学院科学家在最近《国家科学院学报》中报道：Sox17基因在心肌细胞演化过程中信号通路、酶以及有关蛋白的共同作用中是一重要角色。
To be precise, Sox17 is critical in transforming primitive mesoderm (an early layer of tissue in the embryo) into the more specialized cardiac mesoderm from which heart muscle develops, said Dr. Michael Schneider, senior researcher of the report.
准确来说，Sox17在原中胚层(胚胎组织早期胚层)转化为心脏中胚层从而使心肌细胞发育过程中起关键作用，本报道高级研究者Michael Schneider博士如是说。
"Heart muscle formation by embryonic stem cells is a complex, multi-step process," said Schneider, professor of medicine, molecular and cellular biology, and molecular physiology and biophysics at Baylor College of Medicine. "We have succeeded in uncoupling the formation of cardiac mesoderm from its antecedent steps. That discovery provides immediate insight into how one might seek to generate cardiac muscle more effectively from embryonic stem cells."
Baylor医学院医学家，分子生物学家，分子生理学和生物物理学家Schneider讲到“胚胎干细胞发育成心肌细胞是一个多步骤复杂的过程，我们已成功从其前体解偶联出心脏中胚层结构，这样就使得胚胎干细胞如何有效地发育成心肌细胞一目了然。”
"One of the major challenges is the very meager ability of the heart muscle to restore itself after cell death," said Schneider. Heart muscle cells die acutely during heart attacks and sporadically in chronic heart failure.
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作者:admin@医学,生命科学 2011-06-28 05:45
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