生物谷報(bào)道：美國西北大學(xué)在Science發(fā)表了一項(xiàng)重大發(fā)現(xiàn)：多細(xì)胞動(dòng)物中,，單個(gè)細(xì)胞對環(huán)境的反應(yīng)要聽從神經(jīng)元細(xì)胞的指揮,。
以往人們一直認(rèn)為,，多細(xì)胞動(dòng)物中每一個(gè)細(xì)胞都會(huì)獨(dú)自應(yīng)對外界刺激,，好似一個(gè)單細(xì)胞生物。然而西北大學(xué)的科學(xué)家發(fā)現(xiàn),，線蟲在感知溫度時(shí),，單個(gè)細(xì)胞的“反應(yīng)權(quán)”被移交給了兩個(gè)專門感受溫度的神經(jīng)元，它倆會(huì)組織起整個(gè)機(jī)體的反應(yīng),。也就是說,，兩個(gè)神經(jīng)細(xì)胞控制了其他957個(gè)細(xì)胞的反應(yīng),。
實(shí)驗(yàn)中，研究者通過基因手段阻斷了上述兩個(gè)神經(jīng)元,，使其不能感受溫度，發(fā)現(xiàn)整個(gè)機(jī)體中再無細(xì)胞能夠?qū)囟茸兓鞒龇磻?yīng),。研究者檢查其他957個(gè)細(xì)胞發(fā)現(xiàn),，單個(gè)細(xì)胞仍然可以感受到升溫，然而由于神經(jīng)元未發(fā)出信號(hào),，所以細(xì)胞無應(yīng)有的反應(yīng),。研究者認(rèn)為，其他多細(xì)胞動(dòng)物包括人類,，也應(yīng)有類似的組織反應(yīng)的神經(jīng)元,。這一發(fā)現(xiàn)有助于加深對多細(xì)胞動(dòng)物的理解。（生物谷www.bioon.com）
生物谷推薦原始出處：
Science,，Vol. 320. no. 5877, pp. 811 - 814,，Veena Prahlad，Richard I. Morimoto
Regulation of the Cellular Heat Shock Response in Caenorhabditis elegans by Thermosensory Neurons
Veena Prahlad, Tyler Cornelius, Richard I. Morimoto*
Temperature pervasively affects all cellular processes. In response to a rapid increase in temperature, all cells undergo a heat shock response, an ancient and highly conserved program of stress-inducible gene expression, to reestablish cellular homeostasis. In isolated cells, the heat shock response is initiated by the presence of misfolded proteins and therefore thought to be cell-autonomous. In contrast, we show that within the metazoan Caenorhabditis elegans, the heat shock response of somatic cells is not cell-autonomous but rather depends on the thermosensory neuron, AFD, which senses ambient temperature and regulates temperature-dependent behavior. We propose a model whereby this loss of cell autonomy serves to integrate behavioral, metabolic, and stress-related responses to establish an organismal response to environmental change.
Department of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, and Cell Biology, Rice Institute for Biomedical Research, Northwestern University, Evanston, IL 60208, USA.
