Developmental Switches: Nuclear Transport and Spermatogenesis

我们建议测试新的假设，核进口机制的变化是细胞分化的一个关键方面。我们将研究发育生物学中的一个新范式，即通过改变大分子（如特异性转录因子）进入细胞核的转运，是否可以实现分化或指导分化。这个项目将定义在发育和成年哺乳动物睾丸中伴随生殖细胞和体细胞分化的核输入机制的变化。 这将与使用体外和体内方法在细胞核内起作用的关键蛋白质的功能变化相关联。

We propose to test the novel hypothesis that changes in the nuclear import machinery are a key facet of cellular differentiation. We will investigate a new paradigm in developmental biology regarding whether differentiation is achieved, or can be directed, by altering transport of macromolecules, such as specific transcription factors, into the nucleus. This project will define changes in the nuclear import machinery that accompany germ and somatic cell differentiation in the developing and adult mammalian testis. This will be linked to changes in the function of key proteins acting within the nucleus using both in vitro and in vivo approaches.