涡虫的基因沉默作用

Gene Silencing in Planarian

涡虫具有惊人的再生能力,作为经典的模型生物应用于后生动物的研究工作。基因沉默是指生物体中特定基因由于外源性或内源性因素的作用而无法表达的现象。目前,RNA干扰作用作为诱导涡虫基因沉默的有效技术,在涡虫发育生物学和分子生物学的研究中发挥重要作用。对涡虫中的基因沉默作用进行了归纳总结,为理解涡虫再生的分子机制提供了基础资料。

Planarians have powerful capability of regenerating complete organisms from tiny fragments of their bodies, it＇ s a classic experimental model for investigating metazoan and has been revitalized by the application of modern molecular biological approaches. Gene silencing, which means special gene not expressing in organisms by some exogenous or endogenous reason. At present, RNA interference is a potent means to induce gene silencing in planarian and could play an important role in developmental biology and molecular biology. Gene silence mediated by exogenous or endogenous factors in planarians were reviewed in this paper, which is helpful for understanding of the molecular mechanisms of regeneration in planarian.