Statements in which the resource exists as a subject.
PredicateObject
rdf:type
lifeskim:mentions
pubmed:issue
8
pubmed:dateCreated
2005-3-25
pubmed:abstractText
As stem cells are rare and difficult to study in vivo in adults, the use of classical models of regeneration to address fundamental aspects of the stem cell biology is emerging. Planarian regeneration, which is based upon totipotent stem cells present in the adult--the so-called neoblasts--provides a unique opportunity to study in vivo the molecular program that defines a stem cell. The choice of a stem cell to self-renew or differentiate involves regulatory molecules that also operate as translational repressors, such as members of PUF proteins. In this study, we identified a homologue of the Drosophila PUF gene Pumilio (DjPum) in the planarian Dugesia japonica, with an expression pattern preferentially restricted to neoblasts. Through RNA interference (RNAi), we demonstrate that gene silencing of DjPum dramatically reduces the number of neoblasts, thus supporting the intriguing hypothesis that stem cell maintenance may be an ancestral function of PUF proteins.
pubmed:language
eng
pubmed:journal
pubmed:citationSubset
IM
pubmed:chemical
pubmed:status
MEDLINE
pubmed:month
Apr
pubmed:issn
0950-1991
pubmed:author
pubmed:issnType
Print
pubmed:volume
132
pubmed:owner
NLM
pubmed:authorsComplete
Y
pubmed:pagination
1863-74
pubmed:dateRevised
2008-11-21
pubmed:meshHeading
pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Amino Acid Sequence, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Animals, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Base Sequence, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Cloning, Molecular, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-DNA Primers, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Drosophila Proteins, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Flow Cytometry, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Gene Silencing, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-In Situ Hybridization, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-In Situ Nick-End Labeling, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Microscopy, Electron, Transmission, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Molecular Sequence Data, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Phylogeny, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Planarians, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-RNA Interference, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-RNA-Binding Proteins, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Regeneration, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Sequence Alignment, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Sequence Analysis, DNA, pubmed-meshheading:15772127-Stem Cells
pubmed:year
2005
pubmed:articleTitle
DjPum, a homologue of Drosophila Pumilio, is essential to planarian stem cell maintenance.
pubmed:affiliation
Dipartimento di Morfologia Umana e Biologia Applicata, Sezione di Biologia e Genetica, Università di Pisa, Pisa, Italy.
pubmed:publicationType
Journal Article, Comparative Study, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't