Nkx6.1 controls migration and axon pathfinding of cranial branchio-motoneurons

Item Type:	Article
Title:	Nkx6.1 controls migration and axon pathfinding of cranial branchio-motoneurons
Creators Name:	Müller, M. and Jabs, N. and Lorke, D.E. and Fritzsch, B. and Sander, M.
Abstract:	As many studies have focused on the mechanisms of motoneuron specification, little is known about the factors that control the subsequent development of postmitotic motoneurons. Previously, we showed that the transcription factor Nkx6.1 is required for the early specification of somatic motoneuron progenitors in the spinal cord. Our present analysis of hindbrain motoneuron development in Nkx6.1-deficient mouse embryos reveals that the early specification of branchio-motoneurons is independent of Nkx6.1 function, but that it is required for their subsequent development. In Nkx6.1 mutant mice, we observed defects in the migration, as well as in the axon projections of branchio-motoneurons. A detailed analysis of the migratory defect in facial branchio-motoneurons reveals ectopic expression of the cell surface receptors Ret and Unc5h3 in premigratory neurons, but no changes in the rhombomeric environment. Taken together, our findings demonstrate a requirement for Nkx6.1 in the development of postmitotic motoneurons, and suggest a cell-autonomous function in the control of branchio-motoneuron migration.
Keywords:	Nkx6.1, Nkx6.2, Hindbrain, Facial Nucleus, Motoneuron, Neuronal Migration, Neuronal Differentiation, Mouse, Animals, Mice
Source:	Development
ISSN:	0950-1991
Publisher:	Company of Biologists
Volume:	130
Number:	23
Page Range:	5815-26
Date:	December 2003
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.00815
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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