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

First published online July 11, 2008

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

bHLH genes seal neural and non-neural fates

In mammalian brains, the choroid plexus secretes cerebrospinal fluid and functions as a blood-brain barrier. Now, on p. 2531, Imayoshi and colleagues reveal that the Hes genes and neurogenin regulate the specification of this uniquely non-neural brain tissue in mouse embryos. The researchers show that the prospective choroid plexus region in the dorsal telencephalic midline of the developing brain expresses the proneural basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene neurogenin 2 (Ngn2) and the bHLH repressor genes Hes1 and Hes5. This region, they report, gives rise to choroid plexus epithelial cells and to Cajal-Retzius cells, specialised neurons that guide neuronal migration. Inactivation of Hes1 in the dorsal telencephalon of Hes3/Hes5-null mice upregulates Ngn2 expression and leads to increased formation of Cajal-Retzius cells and to a complete loss of choroid plexus epithelial cells; Ngn2 overexpression has similar effects. Thus, the researchers conclude, Hes and Ngn2 genes antagonistically regulate non-neural versus neural fate specification in the developing mouse brain, a new role for mammalian bHLH genes.

CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?

Related articles in Development:

Hes genes and neurogenin regulate non-neural versus neural fate specification in the dorsal telencephalic midline

Itaru Imayoshi, Tomomi Shimogori, Toshiyuki Ohtsuka, and Ryoichiro Kageyama
Development 2008 135: 2531-2541. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in Development Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?