Specification of Neuronal Identity in Caenorhabditis elegans

Sternberg, Paul W.; Liu, Katharine; Chamberlin, Helen

doi:10.1016/b978-0-12-638280-8.50005-9

Cited by 5 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 102 publications

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“…Genetic and molecular studies in Drosophila and in Caenorhabditis elegans have defined cascades of transcription factors that progressively commit neuronal precursors to a particular fate (for reviews, see Sternberg et al, 1992;Ghysen and DamblyChaudière, 1993). In vertebrates, many transcription factors, and among them many homeoproteins, are expressed in the developing nervous system of vertebrates in spatiotemporal patterns that suggest roles in the terminal differentiation of various classes of neurons.…”

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confidence: 99%

The Expression Pattern of the Transcription Factor Phox2 Delineates Synaptic Pathways of the Autonomic Nervous System

1996

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Many transcription factors, and most prominently among them, homeodomain proteins, are expressed in specific groups of cells in the developing nervous system in patterns that suggest their involvement in neural fate determination. How various aspects of neural identity are controlled by such transcription factors, or sets of them, is still mostly unknown. It has been shown previously that Phox2 is such a homeodomain protein, expressed exclusively in differentiated groups of neurons or their precursors, and that its expression correlated with that of the noradrenaline synthesis enzyme dopamine-␤-hydroxylase. Here we confirm this striking correlation at the single-cell level with the use of an anti-Phox2 antibody. Moreover, we uncover a second, nonmutually exclusive correlative clue to the Phox2 expression pattern: a high proportion of Phox2-expressing cells are involved in, or located in areas involved in, synaptic circuits, i.e., that of the medullary control reflexes of autonomic functions. This suggests that Phox2 could be involved in the establishment of these circuits.

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The Expression Pattern of the Transcription Factor Phox2 Delineates Synaptic Pathways of the Autonomic Nervous System

1996

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“…A central problem in developmental neurobiology is to understand the mechanisms that control the generation of different neuronal cell types. Genetic and molecular analyses in C. elegans and Drosophila have revealed that the determination of neuronal identity is a progressive process that involves cascades of transcriptional regulatory factors (Ghysen and Dambly-Chaudiere, 1992;Sternberg et al, 1992). These transcription factors control distinct operations that act within the lineages that generate particular classes of neurons (Ghysen and Dambly-Chaudiere, 1989).…”

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Differential regulation of transcription factor gene expression and phenotypic markers in developing sympathetic neurons

et al. 1995

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We have examined the regulation of transcription factor gene expression and phenotypic markers in developing chick sympathetic neurons. Sympathetic progenitor cells first express the bHLH transcriptional regulator Cash-1 (a chicken achaete-scute homologue), followed by coordinate expression of Phox2, a paired homeodomain protein, and GATA-2, a zinc finger protein. SCG10, a pan-neuronal membrane protein, is first detected one stage later, followed by the catecholaminergic neurotransmitter enzyme tyrosine hydroxylase (TH). We have used these markers to ask two questions: (1) is their expression dependent upon inductive signals derived from the notochord or floor plate?; (2) does their sequential expression reflect a single linear pathway or multiple parallel pathways? Notochord ablation experiments indicate that the floor plate is essential for induction of GATA-2, Phox2 and TH, but not for that of Cash-1 and SCG10. Taken together these data suggest that the development of sympathetic neurons involves multiple transcriptional regulatory cascades: one, dependent upon notochord or floor plate-derived signals and involving Phox2 and GATA-2, is assigned to the expression of the neurotransmitter phenotype; the other, independent of such signals and involving Cash-1, is assigned to the expression of pan-neuronal properties. The parallel specification of different components of the terminal neuronal phenotype is likely to be a general feature of neuronal development.

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Role of environmental signals and transcriptional regulators in neural crest development

Groves

Anderson

1996

Dev. Genet.

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The processes by which undifferentiated cells are assigned to particular fates are far from clear. We review recent work that has examined this problem in the neural crest, a multipotential cell population that gives rise to peripheral neurons in vertebrates. Peripheral neuronal differentiation appears to occur in a series of developmental steps that can be regulated independently by signals in the environment. Furthermore, such steps are reflected by corresponding changes in the pattern of regulatory transcription factor expression in differentiating neural crest cells. The determination of neuronal identity may proceed by a series of parallel regulatory pathways involving transcription factors acting both in cascades and in combinatorial arrays. © 1996 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.

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Specification of Neuronal Identity in Caenorhabditis elegans

Cited by 5 publications

References 102 publications

The Expression Pattern of the Transcription Factor Phox2 Delineates Synaptic Pathways of the Autonomic Nervous System

The Expression Pattern of the Transcription Factor Phox2 Delineates Synaptic Pathways of the Autonomic Nervous System

Differential regulation of transcription factor gene expression and phenotypic markers in developing sympathetic neurons

Role of environmental signals and transcriptional regulators in neural crest development

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