The mammalian Pax gene family encode a set of paired-domain transcription factors which play essential roles in regulating proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, cell migration, and stem-cell maintenance. Pax gene expression is necessarily tightly controlled and is associated with the demarcation of boundaries during tissue development and specification. Auto- and inter-regulation are mechanisms frequently employed to achieve precise control of Pax expression domains in a variety of tissues including the eye, central nervous system, kidney, pancreas, skeletal system, muscle, tooth, and thymus. Furthermore, aberrant Pax expression is linked to several diseases and causally associated with certain tumors. An increasing number of studies also relate patterns of Pax expression to signaling by members of the TGFbeta superfamily and, in some instances, this is due to disruption of Pax gene auto-regulation. Here, we review the current evidence highlighting functional and mechanistic overlap between TGFbeta signaling and Pax-mediated gene transcription. We conclude that self-regulation of Pax gene expression coupled with modulation by the TGFbeta superfamily represents a signaling axis that is frequently employed during development and disease to drive normal tissue growth, differentiation and homeostasis.

中文翻译：

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TGFbeta 超家族自我调节的 Pax 基因表达和调节。

哺乳动物 Pax 基因家族编码一组配对结构域转录因子，它们在调节增殖、分化、凋亡、细胞迁移和干细胞维持中发挥重要作用。Pax 基因表达必然受到严格控制，并且与组织发育和规范过程中的边界划分有关。自动和相互调节是经常用于实现对多种组织中 Pax 表达域的精确控制的机制，包括眼睛、中枢神经系统、肾脏、胰腺、骨骼系统、肌肉、牙齿和胸腺。此外，异常的 Pax 表达与多种疾病有关，并且与某些肿瘤有因果关系。越来越多的研究还将 Pax 表达模式与 TGFbeta 超家族成员的信号传导联系起来，在某些情况下，这是由于 Pax 基因自动调节的破坏。在这里，我们回顾了当前的证据，突出了 TGFbeta 信号和 Pax 介导的基因转录之间的功能和机制重叠。我们得出结论，Pax 基因表达的自我调节加上 TGFbeta 超家族的调节代表了一个信号轴，在发育和疾病过程中经常使用它来驱动正常组织的生长、分化和体内平衡。