美国辛辛那提大学Erturul M. zbudak课题组近日取得一项新成果。经过不懈努力，他们发现了分段时钟基因配对诱导发育模式的形成。 该研究于2020年12月23日在线发表于国际学术期刊《自然》杂志。
使用两个关联的斑马鱼分段时钟基因her1和her7，并结合单细胞转录计数、基因工程、实时成像和计算建模，研究人员发现基因配对可促进相关转录并可有效促进发育模式的形成。该结果表明，阻碍基因配对会破坏振荡和分段基因，而her1和her7的关联对于斑马鱼胚胎体轴的发育至关重要。研究人员预测基因配对在其他生物中可能同样具有优势，并且研究表明基因配对可能有利于在胚胎和类器官中建立精确的合成时钟。
据悉，基因表达是一个内在随机过程;然而，有机体的发育和体内平衡需要细胞协调大量基因的时空表达。在后生动物中，成对表达的基因对通常位于同一染色体附近，其中基因对占所有基因的10％至50％，具体比例取决于物种。虽然共享的上游调节因子可以确保相关基因的表达，但是仍然未知维持相邻基因对选择性的优势。
附：英文原文
Title: Pairing of segmentation clock genes drives robust pattern formation
Author: Oriana Q. H. Zinani, Kemal Keserolu, Ahmet Ay, Erturul M. zbudak
Issue&Volume: 2020-12-23
Abstract: Gene expression is an inherently stochastic process1,2; however, organismal development and homeostasis require cells to coordinate the spatiotemporal expression of large sets of genes. In metazoans, pairs of co-expressed genes often reside in the same chromosomal neighbourhood, with gene pairs representing 10 to 50% of all genes, depending on the species3,4,5,6. Because shared upstream regulators can ensure correlated gene expression, the selective advantage of maintaining adjacent gene pairs remains unknown6. Here, using two linked zebrafish segmentation clock genes, her1 and her7, and combining single-cell transcript counting, genetic engineering, real-time imaging and computational modelling, we show that gene pairing boosts correlated transcription and provides phenotypic robustness for the formation of developmental patterns. Our results demonstrate that the prevention of gene pairing disrupts oscillations and segmentation, and the linkage of her1 and her7 is essential for the development of the body axis in zebrafish embryos. We predict that gene pairing may be similarly advantageous in other organisms, and our findings could lead to the engineering of precise synthetic clocks in embryos and organoids.
DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03055-0
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-03055-0
Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html
本期文章：《自然》：Online/在线发表
