New! Sign up for our free email newsletter.
Science News
from research organizations

Why living things are the size they are -- and none other

Date:
April 19, 2010
Source:
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology
Summary:
New research suggests that 'growth genes' are not driven by age, but by the process of growth itself, opening doors for organ regeneration as well as new treatments for abnormal body growth and cancer.
Share:
FULL STORY

If you consider yourself to be too short or too tall, things are looking up, or down, depending on your vertical disposition. New research published online in The FASEB Journal explains how we grow, how our bodies maintain correct proportions, and offers insight into what goes wrong with growth disorders and unregulated cell growth in cancer.

"We hope that these insights into the mechanisms controlling body growth will help us understand better the reasons for the excessive growth of cancer cells and also provide new approaches to turn growth back on in normal cells in order to regenerate damaged organs," said Julian C. Lui, Ph.D., a researcher involved in the work from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland.

Scientists studied which genes were active in young animals (growing rapidly) and compared them to the same genes in older animals (growing slowly). Then they identified which genes were "turned off" simultaneously in multiple organs with age. To understand the consequences of these genes being turned off, the researchers experimentally turned them off in cultured cells and observed the effects. They found that rapid growth in early life is a response to the activation of multiple genes that stimulate growth. These same genes are progressively turned off during the maturation process, causing growth to slow. This process occurs simultaneously in multiple organs, which explains why organs all stay in proportional size as the body grows. This process is not controlled by age. Instead, genes are turned off when organs achieve a certain level of growth.

"This important work answers the question of why any animal- including us -- has a certain size," said Gerald Weissmann, M.D., Editor-in-Chief of The FASEB Journal, "As this study shows, growth is dictated by organ development, and no one wishes their organs to be abnormally large or small."


Story Source:

Materials provided by Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


Journal Reference:

  1. Lui et al. Coordinated postnatal down-regulation of multiple growth-promoting genes: evidence for a genetic program limiting organ growth. The FASEB Journal, 2010; DOI: 10.1096/fj.09-152835

Cite This Page:

Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. "Why living things are the size they are -- and none other." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 April 2010. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100407094456.htm>.
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. (2010, April 19). Why living things are the size they are -- and none other. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 19, 2024 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100407094456.htm
Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. "Why living things are the size they are -- and none other." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100407094456.htm (accessed March 19, 2024).

Explore More

from ScienceDaily

RELATED STORIES