Cellular mechanisms of amphibian metamorphosis

两栖动物变态的细胞机制

• 批准号: RGPIN-2018-03816
• 负责人: Helbing, Caren
• 金额: $ 7.14万
• 依托单位: University of Victoria
• 依托单位国家: 加拿大
• 项目类别: Discovery Grants Program - Individual
• 财政年份: 2020
• 资助国家: 加拿大
• 起止时间: 2020-01-01 至 2021-12-31
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/ase-oro/Details-Detailles_eng.asp?id=711865
• 关键词: Cellular; mechanisms; amphibian; metamorphosis

Thyroid hormones regulate growth, development, and metabolism. Although important in all vertebrates including humans, the best example of the diverse effects of these hormones is the normal postembryonic development of the frog where thyroid hormones trigger tadpole metamorphosis into a juvenile frog. Tadpoles undergo remarkable remodeling of the body plan in anticipation of the transition from an aquatic plant-eater to a terrestrial carnivore. Virtually all tadpole tissues are sensitive to thyroid hormones (for e.g. the tail disappears, the skin thickens, the liver reprograms, and the olfactory system remodels) but the response is determined by the kind of thyroid hormone in addition to the tissue type. My research program focuses on understanding how the differences in tissue responses come about. We hypothesize that there are specific genes that contribute to these differences and we will identify them and examine the molecular switches that control how they work. Environmental contaminants in wastewater, pharmaceuticals, and personal care products can interfere with thyroid hormone action. Hence understanding how tissue-dependent thyroid hormone regulation works is important to identify particularly sensitive tissues to reduce their deleterious impact on humans and animals.

甲状腺激素调节生长、发育和新陈代谢。尽管这些激素在包括人类在内的所有脊椎动物中都很重要，但这些激素的不同作用的最好例子是青蛙的正常胚后发育，其中甲状腺激素触发蝌蚪变态为幼蛙。蝌蚪经历了显着的重塑身体计划的预期过渡，从水生食草动物到陆地食肉动物。几乎所有的蝌蚪组织都对甲状腺激素敏感（例如尾巴消失，皮肤变厚，肝脏重新编程，嗅觉系统重塑），但除了组织类型之外，这种反应还取决于甲状腺激素的种类。我的研究项目侧重于了解组织反应的差异是如何产生的。我们假设有特定的基因导致了这些差异，我们将识别它们并检查控制它们如何工作的分子开关。废水、药品和个人护理产品中的环境污染物会干扰甲状腺激素的作用。因此，了解组织依赖性甲状腺激素调节如何起作用对于识别特别敏感的组织以减少其对人类和动物的有害影响非常重要。