Identification of the vertebrate Iroquois homeobox gene family with overlapping expression during early development of the nervous system.
In Drosophila the decision processes between the neural and epidermal fate for equipotent ectodermal cells depend on the activity of proneural genes. Members of the Drosophila Iroquois-Complex (Iro-C) positively regulate the activity of certain proneural AS-C genes during the formation of external sensory organs. We have identified and characterized three mouse Iroquois-related genes: Irx1, -2 and -3, which have a homeodomain very similar to that of the Drosophila Iro-C genes. The sequence similarity implies that these three genes represent a separate homeobox family. All three genes are expressed with distinct spatio/temporal patterns during early mouse embryogenesis. These patterns implicate them in a number of embryonic developmental processes: the A/P and D/V patterning of specific regions of the central nervous system (CNS), and regionalization of the otic vesicle, branchial epithelium and limbs.
Bosse
A
A
Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany.
Zülch
A
A
Becker
M B
MB
Torres
M
M
Gómez-Skarmeta
J L
JL
Modolell
J
J
Gruss
P
P
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D015152:Blotting, Northern; D017124:Conserved Sequence; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics; D004423:Ear / Q000196:embryology; D005121:Extremities / Q000196:embryology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009420:Nervous System / Q000196:embryology*; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid; D014018:Tissue Distribution; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics*; D014158:Transcription, Genetic; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000235:genetics
D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C501592:Irx1 protein, mouse; D014157:Transcription Factors