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The Journal of Neuroscience, May 14, 2008, 28(20):5229-5239; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.1134-08.2008

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Development/Plasticity/Repair
Foxg1 Is Required for Development of the Vertebrate Olfactory System

Cynthia D. Duggan, Shannon DeMaria, Ariane Baudhuin, David Stafford, and John Ngai

Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, Helen Wills Neuroscience Institute, and Functional Genomics Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720-3200

Correspondence should be addressed to John Ngai, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, 269 Life Sciences Addition, 3200, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200. Email: jngai{at}socrates.berkeley.edu

Illuminating the molecular identity and regulation of early progenitor cells in the olfactory sensory epithelium represents an important challenge in the field of neural development. We show in both mouse and zebrafish that the winged helix transcription factor Foxg1 is expressed in an early progenitor population of the olfactory placode. In the mouse, Foxg1 is first expressed throughout the olfactory placode but later becomes restricted to the ventrolateral olfactory epithelium. The essential role of Foxg1 in olfactory development is demonstrated by the strikingly severe phenotype of Foxg1 knock-out mice: older embryos have no recognizable olfactory structures, including epithelium, bulb, or vomeronasal organs. Initially, a small number of olfactory progenitors are specified but show defects in both proliferation and differentiation. Similarly, antisense RNA knockdown of Foxg1 expression in the zebrafish shows a reduction in the number of neurons and mitotic cells in olfactory rosettes, mirroring the phenotype seen in the mouse Foxg1 null mutant. Using mosaic analysis in the zebrafish, we show that Foxg1 is required cell-autonomously for the production of mature olfactory receptor neurons. Therefore, we identified an evolutionarily conserved requirement for Foxg1 in the development of the vertebrate olfactory system.

Key words: olfaction; Foxg1; olfactory placode; progenitor; olfactory epithelium zones; zebrafish

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Received Feb. 14, 2008; accepted April 9, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to John Ngai, Department of Molecular and Cell Biology, University of California, 269 Life Sciences Addition, 3200, Berkeley, CA 94720-3200. Email: jngai{at}socrates.berkeley.edu

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Kawauchi, J. Kim, R. Santos, H.-H. Wu, A. D. Lander, and A. L. Calof Foxg1 promotes olfactory neurogenesis by antagonizing Gdf11 Development, May 1, 2009; 136(9): 1453 - 1464. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

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