QUICK SEARCH:   [advanced] Author: Keyword(s):
Home     Help     Feedback     Subscriptions     Archive     Search     Table of Contents

Help viewing high resolution images Return to article

Fig. 5. PTFla is required for suppression of dorsal horn glutamatergic neurons. Transverse sections through spinal cord cervical regions of Ptf1a^Cre/+ and Ptf1a^Cre/Cre mouse E16.5 embryos were processed for mRNA in-situ hybridization for the glutamatergic marker Vglut2 gene (A,B) or for immunofluorescence for the protein VGLUT2 (C,D). Note the increase in Vglut2 specifically in the dorsal regions in the absence of Ptf1a. The arrows in C,D indicate superficial laminae that have substantial increase in VGLUT2 in the mutant. The dashed line in C,D indicates the midline. (E,F) Anti-GFP antibody was used to detect YFP in Ptf1a^Cre;R26R-stop-YFP E16.5 embryos. VGLUT2 and YFP seldom co-localize in embryos containing Ptf1a (E); however, co-localization of VGLUT2 and YFP is detected in distal processes in the Ptf1a null (F). The density of Tlx3+ cells is increased in dorsal regions in the mutant (G,H). (E-H) are all from dorsal horn regions indicated by the box in C. (I) A model for the role of Ptf1a in GABAergic and glutamatergic neurons in the dorsal horn. Ptf1a acts in two ways: determination of GABAergic neurons by inducing Pax2, which is required for the expression of the GABAergic phenotype in these cells, and suppressing Tlx3, which is required for specifying glutamatergic neurons by inducing glutamatergic specific genes and suppressing Pax2 (Cheng et al., 2004). Scale bar: 110 µm in A,B; 50 µm in C,D; 13 µm in E-H.

Return to article