17-P018 Nanog is conserved in the major trunk of chordate evolution

Abstract

The enteric nervous system (ENS) is a complex network of neurons and glia within the gut wall which originate from neural crest cells. Self-renewing, multipotential ENS progenitors have been isolated from the gut of foetal as well as adult rodents, however, the identity of the ENS progenitor and the regulation of its neurogenic potential invivo, are currently unknown. Sox10 is an HMG-containing transcriptional regulator expressed in ENS progenitors and in glia but not in neurons. To lineally mark the progeny of Sox10-expressing cells, we used Sox10Cre; R26ReYFP transgenics. Our analysis shows that both the Sox10 neurons and the Sox10 + glia cells are derived from Sox10-expressing progenitors.