First published online March 30, 2004
Development 131, 805e (2004)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Heard the news about Tbx1?
Inner ear sensory organs, which mediate balance and hearing in mammals, and
the VIIIth cranial ganglion neurons, which innervate them, are derived from
the otocyst, an epithelial vesicle formed by invagination of the otic placode.
Raft et al. now report that Tbx1 differentially controls sensory organ and
neural fate specification in the otocyst (see
p. 1801). Tbx1 is a
member of the T-box family of DNA-binding transcriptional regulators that
control diverse aspects of embryogenesis, including cell-fate specification,
in many organisms. The researchers show that while overexpression of
Tbx1 suppresses neurogenesis in the mouse otocyst epithelium,
Tbx1 loss of function results in ectopic neural precursor generation
and sensory organ dysmorphogenesis. Together with expression data, these
results indicate that Tbx1 acts as a selector gene to specify
regional identity in the otocyst.
Related articles in Development:
- Suppression of neural fate and control of inner ear morphogenesis by Tbx1
- Steven Raft, Sonja Nowotschin, Jun Liao, and Bernice E. Morrow
Development 2004 131: 1801-1812.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
