RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Miswiring of Limbic Thalamocortical Projections in the Absence of Ephrin-A5
JF The Journal of Neuroscience
JO J. Neurosci.
FD Society for Neuroscience
SP 9352
OP 9357
DO 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.22-21-09352.2002
VO 22
IS 21
A1 Daniela Uziel
A1 Sven Mühlfriedel
A1 Kostas Zarbalis
A1 Wolfgang Wurst
A1 Pat Levitt
A1 Jürgen Bolz
YR 2002
UL http://www.jneurosci.org/content/22/21/9352.abstract
AB Axon guidance cues of the ephrin ligand family have been hypothesized to regulate the formation of thalamocortical connections, but in vivo evidence for such a role has not been examined directly. To test whether ephrin-mediated repulsive cues participate in sorting the projections originating from distinct thalamic nuclei, we analyzed the organization of somatosensory and anterior cingulate afferents postnatally in mice lacking ephrin-A5 gene expression. Projections from ventrobasal and laterodorsal nuclei to their respective sensory and limbic cortical areas developed normally. However, a portion of limbic thalamic neurons from the laterodorsal nucleus also formed additional projections to somatosensory cortical territories, thus maintaining inappropriate dual projections to multiple cortical regions. These results suggest that ephrin-A5 is not required for the formation of normal cortical projections from the appropriate thalamic nuclei, but rather acts as a guidance cue that restricts limbic thalamic axons from inappropriate neocortical regions.