Analysis of the formation and regulation of quiescence of the adult muscle precursor cells (AMPs) during embryonic development by using the GFP-Labeled marker genes twist and Him in Drosophila melanogaster

中胚层发育是胚胎发生过程中高度调控且时间依赖性的过程。中胚层细胞及其细胞命运的决定发生在胚胎发育早期，并由中胚层命运基因扭曲控制。有趣的是，这种中胚层标志物的表达在胚胎后期下降后，它会持续存在于不同的细胞中，即成体肌肉前体细胞（AMP），这些细胞直到蛹期才保持未分化。在从蛹阶段到成蝇阶段的过渡过程中，大部分肌肉组织都是由这些 AMP 重建的。成体肌肉前体细胞具有脊椎动物肌肉干细胞的某些特性，例如它们是由麻木依赖性不对称细胞分裂产生的，它们能够自我更新，它们保持静止状态，并且能够替换受损的细胞并采用它们的特性。然而，人们对 AMP 发育的调控还不是很了解。因此，我计划确定这些细胞中已知基因（尤其是扭曲基因）的作用，并进行遗传筛选以鉴定参与 AMP 调节的新基因。这些基因的功能特征将为 AMP 的发育提供新的线索，获得的数据可能进一步支持 AMP 类似于果蝇肌肉干细胞的观点。

Mesoderm development is a highly regulated and time dependent process during embryogenesis. The determination of mesodermal cells and their cell fate occurs early in embryonic development and is controlled by the mesodermal fate gene twist. Interestingly, after the expression of this mesodermal marker has declined in later embryonic stages, it persists in distinct cells, the adult muscle precursors (AMPs), which remain undifferentiated until the pupal stage. During the transition from the pupal stage to the adult fly, much of the musculature is rebuilt from these AMPs. Adult muscle precursor cells share certain properties of vertebrate muscle stem cells, e.g. they are generated by Numb-dependent asymmetric cell division, they are able to renew themselves, they remain quiescent, and are able to replace damaged cells and to adopt their properties. However, the regulation of AMP development is not very well understood. Therefore, I plan to determine the role of known genes, particularly of twist, in these cells as well as to perform a genetic screen to identify new genes involved in the regulation of AMPs. The functional features of these genes will shed new light on AMP development and the obtained data may further support the notion that AMPs are akin to muscle stem cells in Drosophila melanogaster.