Handling Editor: James Briscoe
ABSTRACT
Differential Hox gene expression is central for specification of axial neuronal diversity in the spinal cord. Here, we uncover an additional function of Hox proteins in the developing spinal cord, restricted to B cluster Hox genes. We found that members of the HoxB cluster are expressed in the trunk neural tube of chicken embryo earlier than Hox from the other clusters, with poor antero-posterior axial specificity and with overlapping expression in the intermediate zone (IZ). Gain-of-function experiments of HoxB4, HoxB8 and HoxB9, respectively, representative of anterior, central and posterior HoxB genes, resulted in ectopic progenitor cells in the mantle zone. The search for HoxB8 downstream targets in the early neural tube identified the leucine zipper tumor suppressor 1 gene (Lzts1), the expression of which is also activated by HoxB4 and HoxB9. Gain- and loss-of-function experiments showed that Lzts1, which is expressed endogenously in the IZ, controls neuronal delamination. These data collectively indicate that HoxB genes have a generic function in the developing spinal cord, controlling the expression of Lzts1 and neuronal delamination.
Footnotes
Competing interests
The authors declare no competing or financial interests.
Author contributions
Conceptualization: Y.G., M.-C.D.; Methodology: A.W., L.R., N.C., L.L.R., A.J.S., M.-C.D.; Validation: A.W., L.R., M.-C.D.; Formal analysis: A.W., L.R., A.J.S., M.-C.D.; Investigation: A.W., L.R., N.C., L.L.R., E.B., M.-C.D.; Writing - original draft: A.W., L.R., A.J.S., Y.G., M.-C.D.; Writing - review & editing: A.W., Y.G., M.-C.D.; Supervision: Y.G., M.-C.D.; Funding acquisition: Y.G., M.-C.D.
Funding
This work was supported by AMIDEX and the Fondation pour la recherche médicale. A.W. and L.R. were, respectively, funded by doctoral fellowships from the Ligue contre le cancer and AMIDEX.
Data availability
RNA-seq data have been deposited in GEO and under accession number GSE162665.
Supplementary information
Supplementary information available online at https://dev.biologists.org/lookup/doi/10.1242/dev.195404.supplemental
- Received July 24, 2020.
- Accepted January 11, 2021.
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