美國(guó)科學(xué)家近日利用單個(gè)干細(xì)胞,，建造了小鼠完整的前列腺。這是繼2006年科學(xué)家在小鼠中利用乳腺干細(xì)胞制造出乳腺后,，第二次成功地利用單個(gè)干細(xì)胞制造出完整器官,。這一成果代表了干細(xì)胞研究和人們對(duì)于前列腺發(fā)育理解的巨大進(jìn)步。相關(guān)論文10月22日在線發(fā)表于《自然》（Nature）雜志上,。
之前的研究顯示,，最接近尿道的前列腺區(qū)可能含有豐富的干細(xì)胞。在最新的研究中,，美國(guó)Genentech生物公司的Wei-Qiang Gao和同事將小鼠去勢(shì)（殺傷了部分前列腺）,，并注射了睪丸激素以刺激再生。研究人員利用聚合酶鏈反應(yīng)分析掃描細(xì)胞以尋找多種標(biāo)記蛋白,，其中一些之前在干細(xì)胞中發(fā)現(xiàn),，另一些已知在前列腺發(fā)育中發(fā)揮作用,。
結(jié)果發(fā)現(xiàn)，帶有CD117+蛋白標(biāo)記的細(xì)胞（先前并不與前列腺干細(xì)胞相關(guān)）,，在去勢(shì)和注射睪丸激素后發(fā)生了增殖,。當(dāng)向小鼠腎臟中植入97個(gè)帶有特殊標(biāo)記（包括CD117+）的細(xì)胞后，其中14個(gè)形成了幾乎實(shí)際大小的前列腺,。這些干細(xì)胞產(chǎn)生的前列腺與正常前列腺分泌相同的蛋白,。
對(duì)人類前列腺的蛋白分析同樣檢測(cè)到了CD117+蛋白。Gao說,，如果這一蛋白在人體中也是前列腺干細(xì)胞標(biāo)記的話,，它將有助于科學(xué)家研究前列腺癌是否起源于干細(xì)胞出錯(cuò),。
美國(guó)匹茲堡大學(xué)的再生醫(yī)學(xué)專家Stephen Badylak表示,，“這是一項(xiàng)非常重要的發(fā)現(xiàn)”，它標(biāo)志著邁向器官再生目標(biāo)的重要一步,。不過,，還需要進(jìn)行更多的研究，以確保再生器官中的細(xì)胞“知道”何時(shí)停止生長(zhǎng)以及形成怎樣的形狀,。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Nature,，doi:10.1038/nature07427，Kevin G. Leong,，Wei-Qiang Gao
Generation of a prostate from a single adult stem cell
Kevin G. Leong1, Bu-Er Wang1, Leisa Johnson1 & Wei-Qiang Gao1
1 Department of Molecular Biology, Genentech, Inc., 1 DNA Way, South San Francisco, California 94080, USA
The existence of prostate stem cells (PSCs) was first postulated from the observation that normal prostate regeneration can occur after repeated cycles of androgen deprivation and replacement in rodents1. Given the critical role of PSCs in maintaining prostate tissue integrity and their potential involvement in prostate tumorigenesis2, it is important to define specific markers for normal PSCs. Several cell-surface markers have been reported to identify candidate PSCs, including stem cell antigen-1 (Sca-1, also known as Ly6a), CD133 (Prom1) and CD44 (refs 3–10). However, many non-PSCs in the mouse prostate also express these markers and thus identification of a more defined PSC population remains elusive. Here we identify CD117 (c-kit, stem cell factor receptor) as a new marker of a rare adult mouse PSC population, and demonstrate that a single stem cell defined by the phenotype Lin-Sca-1+CD133+CD44+CD117+ can generate a prostate after transplantation in vivo. CD117 expression is predominantly localized to the region of the mouse prostate proximal to the urethra and is upregulated after castration-induced prostate involution—two characteristics consistent with that of a PSC marker. CD117+ PSCs can generate functional, secretion-producing prostates when transplanted in vivo. Moreover, CD117+ PSCs have long-term self-renewal capacity, as evidenced by serial isolation and transplantation in vivo. Our data establish that single cells in the adult mouse prostate with multipotent, self-renewal capacity are defined by a Lin-Sca-1+CD133+CD44+CD117+ phenotype.
