美國南加州大學(xué)一個(gè)科研小組12月24日宣布，他們首次成功地從大鼠胚胎中提取干細(xì)胞,，這將使科學(xué)家借助動(dòng)物模型更方便地對(duì)諸多人類頑疾進(jìn)行研究。
英國科學(xué)家馬丁·埃文斯早在1981年就成功地從小鼠胚胎中提取出第一個(gè)小鼠胚胎干細(xì)胞,。但大鼠胚胎干細(xì)胞的提取尚屬首次,。
研究負(fù)責(zé)人,、華人科學(xué)家應(yīng)其龍?jiān)谛侣劰珗?bào)中說，這是干細(xì)胞研究領(lǐng)域的一項(xiàng)重大進(jìn)展,，“因?yàn)槲覀冎?，與小鼠相比，大鼠在生物學(xué)的許多方面與人類更為相近”,。應(yīng)其龍認(rèn)為,，提取大鼠胚胎干細(xì)胞研究被證實(shí)可行之后，世界許多干細(xì)胞實(shí)驗(yàn)室的研究方向都將因此而改變,。
此前,，科研人員嘗試提取大鼠胚胎干細(xì)胞都因?yàn)榧夹g(shù)障礙宣告失敗。此次,，應(yīng)其龍的科研小組采取了一種特殊的“信號(hào)阻斷”方法,，他們利用特殊的分子抑制大鼠胚胎中3個(gè)特定基因發(fā)出信號(hào)。正常情況下,，這3個(gè)基因發(fā)出的信號(hào)是胚胎干細(xì)胞分化的“命令”,。信號(hào)被阻斷后，大鼠胚胎干細(xì)胞就能夠“停下分化的腳步”,，保持在原始胚胎階段。
科研小組認(rèn)為,，能夠提取大鼠胚胎干細(xì)胞,，朝著今后科學(xué)家通過基因敲除技術(shù)人為地給大鼠胚胎剔除一個(gè)或多個(gè)基因、培養(yǎng)“定制”大鼠進(jìn)行疾病研究又向前邁進(jìn)了一步,。
這一成果將發(fā)表在定于12月26日出版的《細(xì)胞》雜志上,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Cell,26 December 2008 doi:10.1016/j.cell.2008.12.006
Germline Competent Embryonic Stem Cells Derived from Rat Blastocysts
Ping Li1,7,Chang Tong1,Ruty Mehrian-Shai2,3,Li Jia4,Nancy Wu5,Youzhen Yan5,Robert E. Maxson2,5,Eric N. Schulze1,Houyan Song7,Chih-Lin Hsieh2,4,Martin F. Pera1,6andQi-Long Ying1,6,,
1 Eli and Edythe Broad Center for Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at USC, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
2 Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
3 Custom Microarray Core Facility, Institute for Genetic Medicine, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
4 Department of Urology, Norris Cancer Center, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
5 USC/Norris Cancer Center Transgenic/Knockout Core Facility, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
6 Department of Cell and Neurobiology, Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA 90033, USA
7 The Key Laboratory of Molecular Medicine, Ministry of Education, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai 20032, P.R. China
Rats have important advantages over mice as an experimental system for physiological and pharmacological investigations. The lack of rat embryonic stem (ES) cells has restricted the availability of transgenic technologies to create genetic models in this species. Here, we show that rat ES cells can be efficiently derived, propagated, and genetically manipulated in the presence of small molecules that specifically inhibit GSK3, MEK, and FGF receptor tyrosine kinases. These rat ES cells express pluripotency markers and retain the capacity to differentiate into derivatives of all three germ layers. Most importantly, they can produce high rates of chimerism when reintroduced into early stage embryos and can transmit through the germline. Establishment of authentic rat ES cells will make possible sophisticated genetic manipulation to create models for the study of human diseases.
