Mechanisms of developmental buffering

项目总结/摘要： 这项建议的长期目标是了解遗传缓冲，或一些人如何克服 有害基因突变的影响我们制作了一个斑马鱼的缓冲模型， 那些本该生病的人是如何不受影响地健康生活的。在我们的模型中， 我们用选择性繁殖的方法培育出了两种头部发育完全不同的斑马鱼 同样有害的基因突变。在一种菌株中，突变导致严重的，致命的 骨骼缺陷与此同时，另一种菌株对突变有明显的缓冲作用。缓冲鱼 发育出基本上正常的头部骨骼，存活下来，成为有生育能力的成年个体。我们将这些菌株与 了解存在于一些鱼类中的自然缓冲机制，也可能存在于一些人类中。我们 假设缓冲是由于调整发育过程以恢复平衡的因素。为 例如，在Aim 1中，我们将确定如何抑制突变基因的DNA序列。 在目标2中，我们研究了DNA中编码的因子如何执行与突变基因相同的功能 可以翻起来。在目标3中，我们将确定不一定涉及改变的变化如何改变。 DNA序列可以缓冲有害突变。这三个具体目标测试了相互作用的机制 共同发挥缓冲发展的作用。我们设计了实验，以解决这些目标，使用最先进的 方法如基因组编辑和测序，彩色细胞和组织标记， 大量的鱼骨架和严格的统计分析。我们在这里研究的机制 存在于许多发育系统和生物体中，因此可能适用于广泛的 测距设置。这项缓冲机制的研究可能会导致新的治疗方法，缓冲 未来可能会操纵这些机制来控制疾病症状。这项工作也将导致一个 更好地理解从基因序列预测遗传疾病的困难因素。因此，在本发明中， 这一系列研究将潜在地为包括遗传疾病在内的医疗实践提供信息和改进 管理，疾病诊断和咨询，完全属于NIDCR的使命，以改善 牙科、口腔和颅面健康。

PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT: The long-term objective of this proposal is to understand genetic buffering, or how some individuals overcome the effects of a harmful genetic mutation. We generated a zebrafish model of buffering in order to understand how individuals who should have gotten sick are somehow able to live unaffected healthy lives. In our model, we used selective breeding to generate two strains of zebrafish that develop dramatically different head skeletons in response to the same harmful genetic mutation. In one strain, the mutation causes severe, lethal skeletal defects. Meanwhile, the other strain is remarkably buffered against the mutation. The buffered fish develop essentially normal head skeletons, surviving to be fertile, viable adults. We compare these strains to understand the natural buffering mechanisms that are present in some fish, and likely in some humans too. We hypothesize that buffering is due to factors that tune developmental processes to restore balance. For example, in Aim1 we will determine how DNA sequences which oppose the mutant gene can be turned down. In Aim 2 we examine how factors encoded in the DNA which perform the same function as the mutant gene can be turned up. In Aim 3 we will determine how changes that do not necessarily involve alterations in the DNA sequence can buffer the harmful mutation. These three specific aims test how interacting mechanisms function together to buffer development. We designed experiments to address these aims using state of the art methods like genome editing and sequencing, colorful cell and tissue labeling, quantitative measurements of large numbers of fish skeletons, and rigorous statistical analyses. The mechanisms we propose to study here are present in many developmental systems and organisms and therefore will likely be applicable in wide- ranging settings. This study of buffering mechanisms could lead to novel therapeutic approaches, buffering mechanisms might be manipulated in the future to manage disease symptoms. This work will also lead to a better understanding of the factors that make predicting genetic disease from gene sequences difficult. Thus, this line of research will potentially inform and improve medical practices, including genetic disease management, disease diagnosis, and counseling, falling squarely within the mission of the NIDCR to improve dental, oral and craniofacial health through research.