组织再生 z-bo 2020-11-03 328

　　By studying the regenerative ability of planarian flatworms, researchers at Northwestern University in the United States discovered a gene that can promote the regeneration of human tissues.

　　Planaria worms are 2 to 20 millimeters in length, and a complex anatomical structure contains approximately one million cells. Surprisingly, this animal has the ability to regenerate any part of the body, even after the head is severed, this ability still exists. This is because their stem cells have characteristics similar to human embryonic stem cells. The genome of the worm has been sequenced. Due to its unique basic biology, this makes Planaria vulgaris often used by scientists to study tissue repair mechanisms.

　　Now, Christine Peterson, associate professor of molecular biology at Northwestern University's Weinberg School of Arts and Sciences, and a doctoral student in his laboratory, Constanza Vásquez-Doorman, have discovered a gene called ZIC-1, which controls the stem cells of Planaria vulgaris They become a "signal center", responsible for coordinating tissue regeneration in animals' new organ production.

　　Researchers studied the ZIC-1 gene of Dugesia elegans and found that its product may be used as a transcription factor to produce cells that secrete the growth-promoting protein NOTUM, which promotes the regeneration of tissues at the top of the cut and regenerates the worm's head.

　　Peterson said these results indicate that regeneration requires the specific use of stem cell progeny to orchestrate the production of new tissue after injury.

　　"Many studies of human or mammalian stem cells have focused on how to manipulate these cells to produce new cell types, but an important long-term challenge in stem cell research is still how to use these cells to create complex tissue regeneration and repair," Peterson said. "This study identifies ZIC protein as an important regulator of tissue regeneration, and provides a better roadmap for us to use human stem cells to improve human tissue repair."