日本國(guó)立成育醫(yī)療研究中心系統(tǒng)發(fā)生和再生醫(yī)學(xué)研究部的研究小組日前發(fā)現(xiàn)對(duì)生成連接骨骼和肌肉的肌腱發(fā)揮重要作用的基因,。
研究小組利用獨(dú)自開發(fā)的基因數(shù)據(jù)庫(kù),，發(fā)現(xiàn)“Mkx”基因?qū)‰彀l(fā)育成熟具有重要作用,。通過老鼠實(shí)驗(yàn)發(fā)現(xiàn)，剔除了該基因的老鼠,，其肌腱會(huì)停止發(fā)育,，而且非常脆弱。肌腱一旦損傷,，將很難再生,，因此這一成果將有望促進(jìn)開發(fā)出新的治療方法。
有關(guān)論文已刊登在美國(guó)《國(guó)家科學(xué)院學(xué)報(bào)》上,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原文出處：
PNAS doi: 10.1073/pnas.1000525107
The Mohawk homeobox gene is a critical regulator of tendon differentiation
Yoshiaki Itoa, Naoya Toriuchia, Teruhito Yoshitakaa, Hiroe Ueno-Kudoha, Tempei Satoa, Shigetoshi Yokoyamaa, Keiichiro Nishidab, Takayuki Akimotoc, Michiko Takahashia, Shigeru Miyakia, and Hiroshi Asaharaa,1
aDepartment of Systems BioMedicine, National Research Institute for Child Health and Development, Tokyo 157-8535, Japan;
bDepartment of Human Morphology, Science of Functional Recovery and Reconstruction, Okayama University Graduate School of Medicine and Dentistry, Okayama 700-8558, Japan; and
cLaboratory of Regenerative Medical Engineering, Center for Disease Biology and Integrative Medicine, Graduate School of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo 113-0033, Japan
Mohawk (Mkx) is a member of the Three Amino acid Loop Extension superclass of atypical homeobox genes that is expressed in developing tendons. To investigate the in vivo functions of Mkx, we generated Mkx ?/? mice. These mice had hypoplastic tendons throughout the body. Despite the reduction in tendon mass, the cell number in tail tendon fiber bundles was similar between wild-type and Mkx ?/? mice. We also observed small collagen fibril diameters and a down-regulation of type I collagen in Mkx ?/? tendons. These data indicate that Mkx plays a critical role in tendon differentiation by regulating type I collagen production in tendon cells.
