Molecular dissection of c-Myc function in self renewal/differentiation of neural stem cells

细胞生物学的最新发现表明，以前与各种形式的癌症有关的基因也是正常干细胞增殖的关键调节因素。各种信号指示细胞是生长还是停止，成为一种特定的细胞类型。这些信号对器官的正常功能至关重要，因为特定器官的形成取决于适当的细胞生长量与形成分化和特化细胞的适当比例的平衡。在这里，我们将重点放在脑干细胞，我们将进行实验，以检查特定的基因，c-Myc和Bmi1，在调节基本的干细胞属性，如增殖/自我更新和分化的功能。我们希望这些研究将为了解神经干细胞在大脑发育过程中以及在成人大脑的神经源性区域中是如何调控的提供洞察力。了解特定基因如何促进神经干细胞的增殖将使我们能够为未来开发目前无法治愈的脑部疾病和损伤的新疗法奠定基础。

Recent discoveries in cell biology have shown that genes previously implicated in a variety of forms of cancer are also key regulators of the proliferation of normal stem cells. Various signals instruct cells whether to grow or to stop and become a particular cell type. These signals are crucial for proper organ function because the formation of a specific organ depends on the right amount of cell growth being balanced with the right ratio of cells forming differentiated and specialised cells. Here we will focus on brain stem cells and we will perform experiments to examine the function of particular genes, c-Myc and Bmi1, in regulating basic stem cell properties, such as proliferation/self renewal and differentiation. We hope these studies will provide insight into how neural stem cells are regulated during brain development and in neurogenic area of the adult brain.Understanding how specific genes promote the proliferation of neural stem cells will allow us to set the basis for a potential future development of new treatments for currently incurable brain diseases and injuries.