title: Increased apoptosis of motoneurons and altered somatotopic maps in the brachial spinal cord of Hoxc-8-deficient mice.
abstract: Mice deficient for the homeotic gene Hoxc-8 suffer from a congenital prehension deficiency of the forepaw. During embryogenesis, Hoxc-8 is highly expressed in motoneurons within spinal cord segments C7 to T1. These motoneurons innervate forelimb distal muscles that move the forepaw. In Hoxc-8 mutant embryos, formation of these muscles is normal, but their innervation is perturbed. From E13.5 onwards, distal muscles normally supplied by C(7-8) MNs also receive ectopic projections from C(5-6) and T1 motoneurons. Coordinates of motor pools are altered along the rostrocaudal and also the mediolateral axes. Following this aberrant connectivity pattern and during the time of naturally occurring cell death, apoptosis is specifically enhanced in C7-T1 motoneurons. Loss of Hox-encoded regional specifications subsequently leads to a numerical deficit of motoneurons and an irreversible disorganization of motor pools. In Hoxc-8 null mutants, C(7-8) motoneurons lose their selective advantage in growth cone pathfinding behavior and/or target recognition, two essential steps in the establishment and maintenance of a functional nervous system.
authors.affiliation: Unité d'Embryologie Moléculaire, Institut Pasteur, URA 1947 du CNRS, Paris, France.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Tiret
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Le Mouellic
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Maury
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Brûlet
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D017209:Apoptosis / Q000502:physiology*; D002490:Central Nervous System / Q000196:embryology; D003433:Crosses, Genetic; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005528:Foot; D005552:Forelimb; D018737:Hand Strength; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D051379:Mice; D008811:Mice, Inbred DBA; D008818:Mice, Neurologic Mutants; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000473:pathology*; D018482:Muscle, Skeletal / Q000196:embryology / Q000294:innervation*; D009468:Neuromuscular Diseases / Q000196:embryology / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology; D010641:Phenotype; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; C489816:Hoxc8 protein, mouse; D011993:Recombinant Fusion Proteins