Neuronal subtype-specific genes that control corticospinal motor neuron development in vivo

Paola Arlotta; Bradley J Molyneaux; Jinhui Chen; Jun Inoue; Ryo Kominami; Jeffrey D Macklis

doi:10.1016/j.neuron.2004.12.036

Neuronal subtype-specific genes that control corticospinal motor neuron development in vivo

Neuron. 2005 Jan 20;45(2):207-21. doi: 10.1016/j.neuron.2004.12.036.

Authors

Paola Arlotta¹, Bradley J Molyneaux, Jinhui Chen, Jun Inoue, Ryo Kominami, Jeffrey D Macklis

Affiliation

¹ MGH-HMS Center for Nervous System Repair, Departments of Neurosurgery and Neurology, Program in Neuroscience and Harvard Stem Cell Institute, Harvard Medical School, Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, MA 02114, USA.

PMID: 15664173
DOI: 10.1016/j.neuron.2004.12.036

Abstract

Within the vertebrate nervous system, the presence of many different lineages of neurons and glia complicates the molecular characterization of single neuronal populations. In order to elucidate molecular mechanisms underlying the specification and development of corticospinal motor neurons (CSMN), we purified CSMN at distinct stages of development in vivo and compared their gene expression to two other pure populations of cortical projection neurons: callosal projection neurons and corticotectal projection neurons. We found genes that are potentially instructive for CSMN development, as well as genes that are excluded from CSMN and are restricted to other populations of neurons, even within the same cortical layer. Loss-of-function experiments in null mutant mice for Ctip2 (also known as Bcl11b), one of the newly characterized genes, demonstrate that it plays a critical role in the development of CSMN axonal projections to the spinal cord in vivo, confirming that we identified central genetic determinants of the CSMN population.

Publication types

Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Research Support, U.S. Gov't, P.H.S.

MeSH terms

Animals
Animals, Newborn
Cell Differentiation / physiology*
Corpus Callosum / cytology
Corpus Callosum / growth & development
Corpus Callosum / metabolism
Gene Expression Profiling
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / physiology*
Growth Cones / metabolism*
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Knockout
Motor Cortex / cytology
Motor Cortex / growth & development*
Motor Cortex / metabolism
Motor Neurons / cytology
Motor Neurons / metabolism*
Nerve Growth Factors / genetics
Nerve Growth Factors / metabolism
Nerve Tissue Proteins / genetics
Nerve Tissue Proteins / metabolism
Oligonucleotide Array Sequence Analysis
Pyramidal Tracts / cytology
Pyramidal Tracts / growth & development*
Pyramidal Tracts / metabolism
Superior Colliculi / cytology
Superior Colliculi / growth & development
Superior Colliculi / metabolism
Transcription Factors / genetics
Transcription Factors / metabolism
ras Proteins / genetics
ras Proteins / metabolism

Substances

Nerve Growth Factors
Nerve Tissue Proteins
Transcription Factors
Rit1 protein, mouse
ras Proteins