title: Identification of the vertebrate Iroquois homeobox gene family with overlapping expression during early development of the nervous system.
abstract: 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.
authors.affiliation: Department of Molecular Cell Biology, Max Planck Institute of Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Bosse
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zülch
authors.forename: M B
authors.initials: MB
authors.lastname: Becker
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Torres
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Gómez-Skarmeta
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Modolell
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gruss
mesh_terms: 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
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C501592:Irx1 protein, mouse; D014157:Transcription Factors