QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s): Year:  Vol:  Page:

HOME  |   SEARCH  |   ARCHIVE  |   SUBSCRIBE  |   CONTACT  |   HELP

The Journal of Neuroscience, August 27, 2008, 28(35):8724-8734; doi:10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2565-08.2008

This Article Full Text Full Text (PDF) Supplemental Data Submit an eLetter Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in Web of Science Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via HighWire Citing Articles via Web of Science (6) Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Piñon, M. C. Articles by Stoykova, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Piñon, M. C. Articles by Stoykova, A.

 Previous Article  |  Next Article 

Development/Plasticity/Repair
Altered Molecular Regionalization and Normal Thalamocortical Connections in Cortex-Specific Pax6 Knock-Out Mice

Maria Carmen Piñon,^1 * Tran Cong Tuoc,^2,3 * Ruth Ashery-Padan,⁴ Zoltán Molnár,¹ and Anastassia Stoykova^2,3

¹Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QX, United Kingdom, ²Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, 37077 Göttingen, Germany, ³Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft, Center of Molecular Physiology of the Brain, 37073 Göttingen, Germany, and ⁴Sackler Faculty of Medicine, Department of Human Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv 69978, Israel

Correspondence should be addressed to either of the following: Anastassia Stoykova, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany, Email: astoyko{at}gwdg.de; or Zoltán Molnár Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QX, UK, Email: zoltan.molnar{at}dpag.ox.ac.uk

Transcription factor Pax6 exerts a prominent rostrolateral^high to caudomedial^low expression gradient in the cortical progenitors and have been implicated in regulation of area identity in the mammalian cortex. Herein, we analyzed the role of Pax6 in molecular arealization and development of thalamocortical connections in the juvenile cortex-specific conditional Pax6 knock-out mice (Pax6cKO). Using a set of molecular markers of positional identity (Id2, Cadherin6, COUP-TF1, RZRβ, and EphA7), we show that, in the juvenile Pax6cKO, the relative size of caudal cortical areas (putative visual and somatosensory) are mildly enlarged, whereas the rostral domain (putative motor) is severely reduced. Despite the rostral shift of graded expression of areal markers, the distribution of area-specific thalamocortical and corticofugal projections appear normal in the Pax6cKO. This indicates that change of the size of cortical areas is not accompanied by a change in cortical identity. We show furthermore that, despite a severe depletion of supragranular cortical layers and accumulation of cells along the pallial–subpallial boundary, thalamocortical fibers establish a periphery-related pattern of the somatosensory cortex in normal position in Pax6cKO. Our findings indicate that Pax6 expression gradients in cortical progenitors do not directly impart thalamocortical or corticofugal areal identity.

Key words: Pax6; cortex; arealization; thalamus; connections; mouse

---

Received June 6, 2008; revised July 10, 2008; accepted July 14, 2008.

Correspondence should be addressed to either of the following: Anastassia Stoykova, Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Am Fassberg 11, 37077 Göttingen, Germany, Email: astoyko{at}gwdg.de; or Zoltán Molnár Department of Physiology, Anatomy, and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QX, UK, Email: zoltan.molnar{at}dpag.ox.ac.uk

This article has been cited by other articles:

				S. Boretius, T. Michaelis, R. Tammer, R. Ashery-Padan, J. Frahm, and A. Stoykova In Vivo MRI of Altered Brain Anatomy and Fiber Connectivity in Adult Pax6 Deficient Mice Cereb Cortex, December 1, 2009; 19(12): 2838 - 2847. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				S. N. Sansom and F. J. Livesey Gradients in the Brain: The Control of the Development of Form and Function in the Cerebral Cortex Cold Spring Harb Perspect Biol, August 1, 2009; 1(2): a002519 - a002519. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				T. C. Tuoc, K. Radyushkin, A. B. Tonchev, M. C. Pinon, R. Ashery-Padan, Z. Molnar, M. S. Davidoff, and A. Stoykova Selective Cortical Layering Abnormalities and Behavioral Deficits in Cortex-Specific Pax6 Knock-Out Mice J. Neurosci., July 1, 2009; 29(26): 8335 - 8349. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

				R. L. M. Lett, W. Wang, and T. P. O'Connor Semaphorin 5B Is a Novel Inhibitory Cue for Corticofugal Axons Cereb Cortex, June 1, 2009; 19(6): 1408 - 1421. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]

Home  |   Search  |   Archive  |   Subscribe  |   Contact  |   Help