Characterization of a Growth Inhibitory Activity from Urogenital Sinus

前列腺器官发生期间胎儿尿生殖窦 间充质诱导和指导表型分化， 附着上皮这就导致了腺体的形成。 导管和腺泡，典型的成人腺体形态。先前 罗利博士实验室的研究使用了 胎儿泌尿生殖窦，以确定潜在的增长和 间充质分化调节因子。这些研究 已经在条件反射中发现了一种生长抑制因子 来自泌尿生殖窦器官培养物的培养基， 间充质细胞系此外，生长抑制 活性影响膀胱和前列腺上皮细胞系， 这表明这种活性可能会影响细胞分化。的 负责活性的蛋白质已经被纯化到接近 同质性该项目的长期目标是 了解这个因素的基本作用，称为UGIF，在 间充质-上皮相互作用。的 本研究建议的近期目标是： 特异于UGIF的抗体和寡核苷酸探针 蛋白;分离和克隆编码UGIF的cDNA;以及 确定UGIF表达的时空模式 in vivo.拟议的研究将奠定基础， 确定UGIF作为监管工具的潜在意义 因子在体内的作用，及其具体的作用， 间充质-上皮相互作用和相关的器官发生。

During prostate gland organogenesis the fetal urogenital sinus mesenchyme induces and directs the phenotypic differentiation of the apposing epithelium. This leads to the formation of glandular ducts and acini, typical of the adult gland morphology. Previous studies from Dr. Rowley's laboratory have used organ cultures of fetal urogenital sinus to identify potential growth and differentiation regulatory factors from mesenchyme. These studies have identified a growth inhibitory factor in the conditioned medium from urogenital sinus organ cultures and derived mesenchymal cell lines. In addition, the growth inhibitory activity affects bladder and prostatic epithelial cell lines, suggesting this activity may affect cell differentiation. The protein responsible for activity has been purified to near homogeneity. The long term goals of this project are to understand the fundamental role of this factor, termed UGIF, in mesenchymal epithelial interactions during organogenesis. The immediate objectives of the studies proposed here are: to develop antibody and oligonucleotide probes specific for the UGIF protein; to isolate and clone the cDNA encoding UGIF and; to determine the spatial and temporal pattern of expression of UGIF in vivo. The proposed studies will set the foundation to determine the potential significance of UGIF as a regulatory factor in vivo, and its specific role in the basic mechanisms of mesenchymal epithelial interactions and associated organogenesis.