小柯机器人

美国哥伦比亚大学Oliver Hobert研究组发现，独特的同源盒编码指代秀丽隐杆线虫的所有神经元类别。相关论文于2020年8月19日在线发表在《自然》杂志上。

Title: Unique homeobox codes delineate all the neuron classes of C. elegans

Author: Molly B. Reilly, Cyril Cros, Erdem Varol, Eviatar Yemini, Oliver Hobert

Issue&Volume: 2020-08-19

Abstract: It is not known at present whether neuronal cell-type diversity—defined by cell-type-specific anatomical, biophysical, functional and molecular signatures—can be reduced to relatively simple molecular descriptors of neuronal identity1. Here we show, through examination of the expression of all of the conserved homeodomain proteins encoded by the Caenorhabditis elegans genome2, that the complete set of 118 neuron classes of C. elegans can be described individually by unique combinations of the expression of homeodomain proteins, thereby providing—to our knowledge—the simplest currently known descriptor of neuronal diversity. Computational and genetic loss-of-function analyses corroborate the notion that homeodomain proteins not only provide unique descriptors of neuron type, but also have a critical role in specifying neuronal identity. We speculate that the pervasive use of homeobox genes in defining unique neuronal identities reflects the evolutionary history of neuronal cell-type specification. Each one of the complete set of 118 neuron classes in Caenorhabditis elegans can be specified individually by the expression of unique combinations of homeodomain proteins.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-2618-9

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-020-2618-9

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
投稿链接：http://www.nature.com/authors/submit_manuscript.html