日本理化研究所20日发表新闻公报说，该所研究人员与文部科学省项目小组通过大规模数据分析，找到一群控制细胞分化状态的转录因子，并解开了其中的具体机制。
公报说，研究人员以白血病患者的人体免疫细胞株THP－1为研究对象，借助先进的基因测序技术，按细胞分化过程中不同时间段收集它们从原单核细胞分化成单核细胞过程中整个基因组的数据。研究人员通过计算机对收集到的相关数据进行了解析，结果发现30种转录因子支配着细胞的分化过程，并了解了这些转录因子间相互作用的网络。
公报指出，该研究成果将使研究人员通过这些转录因子控制细胞分化状态成为可能。（生物谷Bioon.com）
生物谷推荐原始出处：
Nature Genetics 19 April 2009 | doi:10.1038/ng.375
The transcriptional network that controls growth arrest and differentiation in a human myeloid leukemia cell line
The FANTOM Consortium, Riken Omics Science Center1 &
Using deep sequencing (deepCAGE), the FANTOM4 study measured the genome-wide dynamics of transcription-start-site usage in the human monocytic cell line THP-1 throughout a time course of growth arrest and differentiation. Modeling the expression dynamics in terms of predicted cis-regulatory sites, we identified the key transcription regulators, their time-dependent activities and target genes. Systematic siRNA knockdown of 52 transcription factors confirmed the roles of individual factors in the regulatory network. Our results indicate that cellular states are constrained by complex networks involving both positive and negative regulatory interactions among substantial numbers of transcription factors and that no single transcription factor is both necessary and sufficient to drive the differentiation process.
