ProTracer示踪组织器官稳态、修复与再生中的细胞增殖

Pro Tracer records in vivo cell proliferation during tissue homeostasis,repair and regeneration

在多细胞生物中,细胞增殖是一个基本的过程,它是器官发育、组织稳态、组织修复和再生所必需的。目前检测体内细胞增殖的方法大多存在局限性,为了克服这一技术瓶颈,中国科学院分子细胞科学卓越创新中心周斌研究团队利用双同源重组酶技术开发了增殖示踪(proliferation tracer,ProTracer)技术,可以在各个器官的整体细胞水平上长时间不间断地记录细胞增殖事件。肝小叶作为构成肝脏的基本单位,是具有区域性的,肝小叶中不同区域的肝细胞是异质性的。稳态下肝细胞的来源一直是充满争议的科学问题。科学家利用ProTracer技术发现在肝脏稳态下肝小叶中央区域的肝细胞具有更强的增殖能力。未来,ProTracer的应用将有利于监测器官发育、生长、再生和疾病中的细胞增殖过程,推动众多科学领域基础研究的发展。

Cell proliferation is a fundamental process in the multicellular organisms,and is required to enable development,tissue homeostasis,tissue repair,and tissue regeneration.Most of the current methods for detecting cell proliferation in vivo have limitations.In order to overcome the technical difficulties,Zhou Bin’s research team from Center for Excellence in Molecular Cell Science recently developed proliferation tracer(ProTracer)system by incorporating dual recombinases to seamlessly record the proliferation events of entire cell populations over time in multiple organs.As the basic units of the liver,liver lobules are regionally separable and filled with distinct hepatocyte populations.The source of hepatocytes at steady state remains controversial scientific issue.ProTracer reveals highly regional proliferation in midzonal hepatocytes,suggesting its greater contribution to maintaining the hepatocyte pool during liver homeostasis.In the future,the iterations of ProTracer will promote the dynamic monitoring of organ development,growth,regeneration and diseases and basic researchs on many scientific issues.