The NEUROGENINS (NGNs) are neural-specific basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors. Mouse embryos lacking ngn1 fail to generate the proximal subset of cranial sensory neurons. ngn1 is required for the activation of a cascade of downstream bHLH factors, including NeuroD, MATH3, and NSCL1. ngn1 is expressed by placodal ectodermal cells and acts prior to neuroblast delamination. Moreover, NGN1 positively regulates the Delta homolog DLL1 and can be negatively regulated by Notch signaling. Thus, ngn1 functions similarly to the proneural genes in Drosophila. However, the initial pattern of ngn1 expression appears to be Notch independent. Taken together with the fact that ectopic ngn1 expression can convert ectodermal cells to neurons in Xenopus (Ma et al., 1996), these data and those of Fode et al. (1998 [this issue of Neuron]) identify ngns as vertebrate neuronal determination genes, analogous to myoD and myf5 in myogenesis.

Knock-in mice were generated that harbored a leucine-to-serine mutation in the ␣4 nicotinic receptor near the gate in the channel pore. Mice with intact expression of this hypersensitive receptor display dominant neonatal lethality. These mice have a severe deficit of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, possibly because the hypersensitive receptors are continuously activated by normal extracellular choline concentrations. A strain that retains the neo selection cassette in an intron has reduced expression of the hypersensitive receptor and is viable and fertile. The viable mice display increased anxiety, poor motor learning, excessive ambulation that is eliminated by very low levels of nicotine, and a reduction of nigrostriatal dopaminergic function upon aging. These knock-in mice provide useful insights into the pathophysiology of sustained nicotinic receptor activation and may provide a model for Parkinson's disease.T he mechanism leading from nicotine intake to addiction is not known in detail, but it begins with the activation of neuronal nicotinic acetylcholine receptors (nAChRs). Nicotine elicits dopamine release in several regions of the brain, presumably leading to the reward, motor, and addictive effects (1, 2). The highest-affinity and most abundant nicotine binding in the brain corresponds to the ␣4␤2 nAChR (3). The ␣4 subunit is the principal partner for the ␤2 subunit in brain; ␤2-containing receptors play an important role in nicotine self-administration, in nicotine-stimulated electrophysiological responses in midbrain neurons, and in nicotine-stimulated dopamine release in the ventral striatum (4, 5). The ␣4 subunit and tyrosine hydroxylase are colocalized in dopaminergic neurons (6). Epidemiological studies show that smokers have a lower incidence of Parkinson's disease (7,8), suggesting a protective effect of nicotine via modulation of the dopaminergic system. Both ␣4 and ␤2 knockout mice show only subtle alterations in their physiology or behavior until they reach old age (4, 9, 10). We have used a complementary strategy to understand the roles of ␣4-containing nAChRs. We reasoned that gain of function mutations might generate more noticeable phenotypes, and that these phenotypes would gain relevance from the fact that nicotine and some candidate analgesics (11) are agonists. We have generated lines of knock-in mice by introducing a point mutation into the M2 transmembrane region of the ␣4 subunit to produce a hypersensitive receptor. Materials and MethodsXenopus Oocyte Injections and Electrophysiology. The ␣4 and ␤2 subunits were subcloned into pAMV-PA (12). Capped mRNA transcripts were prepared, and ␣4͞␤2 (2 ng, 1:1) or ␣4L9ЈS͞␤2 (0.2-0.5 ng, 1:1) were microinjected into Xenopus oocytes (12). Twenty-four to seventy-two hours later, two-electrode voltage clamp recordings (12) were made in solutions containing zero Ca 2ϩ .Knock-in Mouse Construction. A 129͞SvJ ␣4 genomic clone containing exon 5 and the L9ЈS mutation was inserted into pKO Scrambler V907 (Lexicon-Genetics, The Woodland...