dILA neurons in the dorsal spinal cord are the product of terminal and non-terminal asymmetric progenitor cell divisions, and require Mash1 for their development

Item Type:	Article
Title:	dILA neurons in the dorsal spinal cord are the product of terminal and non-terminal asymmetric progenitor cell divisions, and require Mash1 for their development
Creators Name:	Wildner, H. and Mueller, T. and Cho, S.H. and Broehl, D. and Cepko, C.L. and Guillemot, F. and Birchmeier, C.
Abstract:	dILA and dILB neurons comprise the major neuronal subtypes generated in the dorsal spinal cord, and arise in a salt-and-pepper pattern from a broad progenitor domain that expresses the bHLH factor Mash1. In this domain, Mash1-positive and Mash1-negative cells intermingle. Using a Mash1(GFP) allele in mice, we show here that Mash1+ progenitors give rise to dILA and dILB neurons. Using retroviral tracing in the chick, we demonstrate that a single progenitor can give rise to a dILA and a dILB neuron, and that dILA neurons are the product of asymmetric progenitor cell divisions. In Mash1-null mutant mice, the development of dILA, but not of dILB neurons is impaired. We provide evidence that a dual function of Mash1 in neuronal differentiation and specification accounts for the observed changes in the mutant mice. Our data allow us to assign to Mash1 a function in asymmetric cell divisions, and indicate that the factor coordinates cell cycle exit and specification in the one daughter that gives rise to a dILA neuron.
Keywords:	Asymmetric Cell Division, Neuronal Specification, Spinal Cord, Mash1 (Ascl1), Animals, Mice, Chickens
Source:	Development
ISSN:	0950-1991
Publisher:	Company of Biologists
Volume:	133
Number:	11
Page Range:	2105-2113
Date:	1 June 2006
Official Publication:	https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.02345
PubMed:	View item in PubMed

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