英国弗朗西斯·克里克研究所James Briscoe研究组在研究中取得进展。他们的最新研究探明了特定物种的发育速度与蛋白质稳定性差异有关。2020年9月18日，《科学》杂志发表了这一成果。

使用体外胚胎干细胞定向分化为运动神经元的方法，他们显示该程序在小鼠中的运行速度是人类的两倍以上。这不是由于信号传递方面的差异，也不是由于基因的基因组序列或其调控元件所致。相反，与小鼠细胞相比，人细胞中的蛋白质稳定性和细胞周期持续时间增加了大约两倍。 这可以解释人类发展的速度变慢的原因，并表明蛋白质更新的差异在种系间的发育节奏差异中起作用。

据了解，尽管许多分子机制控制发育过程的进化保守性，但是胚胎发育速度在物种之间差异显著。例如，相同的遗传程序（包括转录状态的顺序变化）控制着运动神经元在人和人类中的分化，但是其运行的速度在物种之间有所不同。

附：英文原文

Title: Species-specific pace of development is associated with differences in protein stability

Author: Teresa Rayon, Despina Stamataki, Ruben Perez-Carrasco, Lorena Garcia-Perez, Christopher Barrington, Manuela Melchionda, Katherine Exelby, Jorge Lazaro, Victor L. J. Tybulewicz, Elizabeth M. C. Fisher, James Briscoe

Issue&Volume: 2020/09/18

Abstract: Although many molecular mechanisms controlling developmental processes are evolutionarily conserved, the speed at which the embryo develops can vary substantially between species. For example, the same genetic program, comprising sequential changes in transcriptional states, governs the differentiation of motor neurons in mouse and human, but the tempo at which it operates differs between species. Using in vitro directed differentiation of embryonic stem cells to motor neurons, we show that the program runs more than twice as fast in mouse as in human. This is not due to differences in signaling, nor the genomic sequence of genes or their regulatory elements. Instead, there is an approximately two-fold increase in protein stability and cell cycle duration in human cells compared with mouse cells. This can account for the slower pace of human development and suggests that differences in protein turnover play a role in interspecies differences in developmental tempo.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aba7667

Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/369/6510/eaba7667