Scientists Discover Chinmo – “The Youth Gene”

Absence of Chinmo in imaginal cells suppresses wing growth (left) compared to control wing precursor tissue (middle), while overexpression of the Chinmo gene induces tissue overgrowth, as occurs in processes tumors (right). Credit: IBE

Researchers discover Chimno, the gene responsible for the juvenile stage in insects. This gene is present in mammals and could play a key role in cancerous processes.

The study, which was published in the journal eLife and led by the Institute for Evolutionary Biology (IBE, CSIC-UPF) and the IRB Barcelona, has revealed that the Chinmo gene is responsible for establishing the juvenile stage in insects. It also confirms that the Br-C and E93 genes play a regulatory role in insect maturity. These genes, which are also present in humans, act as a promoter and as a suppressor, respectively, of cancerous processes.

The results of the research, which was carried out with the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster and the cockroach Blatella germanica, reveal that these genes have been conserved throughout the evolution of insects. Therefore, it is believed that they could play a key role in the evolution of metamorphosis.

The Chinmo, Br-C, and E93 genes are the hands of the biological clock in insects Insects that undergo complete metamorphosis, such as flies, go through the following three stages of development: the embryo, which is formed inside the egg; the larva (juvenile stage), which grows in several phases; and the pupa, which is the stage that encompasses metamorphosis and the formation of the adult organism.

Previous studies had discovered that the Br-C gene determines pupal formation in insects. In 2019, the same IBE team that has led this study described the essential function of E93 to complete metamorphosis in insects and initiate the maturation of the tissues that go on to form the adult. However, the gene responsible for determining the juvenile stage was unknown until now. This study has now identified the Chimno gene as the main precursor of this stage in insects.

By deleting the Chinmo gene in Drosophila specimens, the scientists observed that these insects progressed to the pupal stage without completing the juvenile stage, moving to the adult stage early. These findings thus confirm that Chinmo is essential for juvenile development.

“We have discovered that Chinmo promotes tissue growth during the juvenile stage of Drosophila by keeping the cells undifferentiated. Thus, while Chinmo is expressed, cells cannot differentiate as the gene suppresses the action of those genes responsible for forming adult tissues,” says Dr. Xavier Franch, a researcher at the IBE (CSIC-UPF) who co-led the study.

Thus, the study concludes that the Chinmo gene has to be inactivated for Drosophila to progress from the juvenile to the pupal stage and to carry out metamorphosis successfully. Likewise, it confirms that the sequential action of the three genes, namely Chinmo, Br-C, and E93, during the larval, pupal, and adult stages, respectively, coordinate the formation of the different organs that form the adult organism.

Growth-regulating genes play a key role in cancerous processes Chinmo and Br-C belong to the large family of BTB-ZF transcription factors—proteins involved in cancer and that are also found in humans. Although previous studies had shown that Chinmo is a precursor of cancer, the role of Br-C and E93 in this disease was unknown until now.

“Understanding the molecular functioning of cell growth can help to better comprehend cancer processes. Healthy cells grow, differentiate, and mature. In contrast, cancer cells grow uncontrollably, do not differentiate, and fail to mature. So determining the role of Chinmo, Br-C, and E93 may be key to future clinical research,” says Dr. Jordi Casanova, an IRB Barcelona researcher and co-author of the study.

The study shows that while Chinmo is an oncogenic precursor because it promotes tissue growth and prevents differentiation, C-Br and E93 serve as tumor suppressors by activating tissue maturation.

The complete metamorphosis of insects such as butterflies and flies is an evolutionary innovation that has emerged gradually during the evolution from insects that undergo a much simpler metamorphosis, such as cockroaches. To understand how this gradual process has taken place, the researchers analyzed the function of Chinmo, Br-C, and E93 in cockroaches.

“Analyzing the function of these genes in different species of insects allows us to observe how evolution works. The observation that Chinmo function is conserved in insects as evolutionarily separated as flies and cockroaches gives us clues as to how metamorphoses originated,” explains Dr. David Martin, a researcher at the IBE (CSIC-UPF) who co-led the study.

The results of the study indicate that the regulatory action of Chinmo and E93 in more basal insects such as the cockroach are sufficient to determine the transition from the juvenile to the adult form. However, the introduction of the Br-C gene allowed the development of the pupae and the appearance of complete metamorphosis through a new pupal stage in insects such as flies.

Reference: “Antagonistic role of the BTB-zinc finger transcription factors chinmo and broad-complex in the juvenile/pupal transition and in growth control” by Sílvia Chafino, Panagiotis Giannios, Jordi Casanova, David Martin and Xavier Franch-Marro, 28 April 2023, eLife . DOI: 10.7554/eLife.84648

Completely misleading article title. Anybody who has studied college level experimental embryology knows that there are certain genes which control development of plant or animal tissue. “Youth gene”....buncha’ idiots....how many extra bucks did they generate from the clicks...paging Ponce de Leon...

When nerves of the spinal column are re-attached and/or grow together (correct alignment), they apparently still fail to pass signals.

I have wondered, if a patient with failed nerves to his legs, who attempted to craw, might cause the “circuit breakers” to be brought back to life.

I have been disappointed to hear (from one “expert”), that “there are certain genes which control development” . . . of nerves, when we are young, and those genes (involved in the development of the nerve circuits - such as to our limbs) apparently go into permanent retirement in our youth.

My hope is, that a way to flip whatever gene needs to be ON, to that ON position, will lead to a sequence of “turning the lights ON.”

Maybe attempting to crawl, will ring some bell. I wonder. I hope.

Now, wondering what you think of that idea?

There are ways for some genes(as far as we know) that are turned on(expressed) or turned off(suppressed)...there are chemical entities which can do this...different genes are turned on and off during embryogenesis depending on what the cell is going to be...amazing thing...most cells have the same complement of genes and chromosomes, but different parts of the genome are turned on or off to differentiate that cell to become a specific cell at a specific time. it is basically a 4d process...right info, right expression/suppression, right position in space, right timing. As soon as we unravel all the cues which set these processes in motion we may hope for some rejuvenation of damaged tissue...for now, we can try something’s and hope we discover something that works...but we cannot advance much further since knowledge is rascist!

“As soon as we unravel all the cues which set these processes in motion we may hope for some rejuvenation of damaged tissue”

Thank you.

Summary of the entire article by ChatGPT:

Some scientists have found a special gene called Chinmo that makes insects stay young and grow bigger. This gene is also in humans and animals, and it might be important for fighting some diseases. The scientists studied two kinds of insects: fruit flies and cockroaches.
They found out that Chinmo works together with two other genes, Br-C and E93, to control how insects change their bodies as they grow up. Chinmo makes the cells stay the same and not change into different kinds of cells. Br-C makes the cells form a hard shell around the insect’s body. E93 makes the cells change into the final shape of the insect.
The scientists learned that Chinmo has to stop working for the insect to grow up and become an adult. They think that Chinmo and the other genes are very old and have been around since insects first appeared on Earth.

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