Portugal – A team of scientists worked on designing a mouse equipped with two additional limbs instead of reproductive organs. Although it sounds like science fiction, this strange creature was not created by chance.
Moises Mallo, a developmental biologist at the Gulbenkian Institute of Sciences in Oreías, Portugal, and his colleagues have been studying a receptor protein, Tgfbr1, in a signaling pathway involved in various aspects of embryonic development.
They inactivated the Tgfbr1 gene in mouse embryos during middle development to investigate its effects on spinal cord development.
The Tgfbr1 gene provides instructions for making a protein called transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) type 1 receptor. These signals are transmitted by the TGF-β receptor complex and trigger various responses by the cell, including cell growth and division.
The TGF-β type 1 receptor helps prevent cells from growing and dividing too quickly or in an uncontrolled way, and can prevent the formation of tumors.
According to MedlinePlus, more than 10 mutations in the Tgfbr1 gene have been found to increase the risk of developing a type of skin cancer. This rare condition, known as Ferguson-Smith disease, is defined by the formation of multiple invasive skin tumors that grow uncontrollably for a few weeks. These tumors then suddenly shrink and leave behind non-cancerous scars.
According to Nature magazine, the team found unexpected results after disabling the gene responsible for producing the protein in mouse embryos that were approximately halfway through development, as one of the genetically modified embryos had two extra legs in the place where its reproductive organs should grow.
In many four-legged animals, the external genitalia and hind limbs develop from the same early structures.
The team researching the six-legged mouse phenomenon discovered that Tgfbr1 helps determine whether these structures become either reproductive organs or limbs. In other words, inactivating the protein changed the activity of other genes, and resulted in extra limbs and no true external genitalia.
The age of the mice used to obtain the embryos ranged between 3 and 6 months. The study revealed that these embryos were obtained via caesarean section and processed for further analyses.
According to the team, the external genitalia of males and females have no differences between the sexes, so no specific analysis of the fetus’s sex was performed.
The team now intends to investigate whether Tgfbr1 and its relatives affect DNA structure in other systems, such as metastatic cancer. They are also interested in knowing whether the same process is behind how reptiles develop a sexual dysfunction known as hemipenis.
Source: Interesting Engineering
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2024-04-04 13:19:50