title: Two murine and human homologs of mab-21, a cell fate determination gene involved in Caenorhabditis elegans neural development.
abstract: We report the cloning and genetic characterization of one human and two murine homologs of the mab-21 cell fate specification gene. mab-21 participates in the formation of sensory organs in the male nematode tail, and is essential for other developmental functions elsewhere in the Caenorhabditis elegans embryo. The expanding mab-21 gene family, which is strikingly conserved in evolution, includes two putative Drosophila members. The two mammalian genes, encoding 41 kDa nuclear basic proteins, are expressed in partially overlapping territories in the embryonic brain, eye and limbs, as well as in neural crest derivatives. Recent genetic data implicating mab-21 as a downstream target of TGF-beta signaling, together with the distribution of mab-21 transcripts in the mouse embryo, propose these novel genes as relevant factors in various aspects of vertebrate neural development.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroscience, San Raffaele Scientific Institute, Milan, Italy.
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mariani
authors.forename: D
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baldessari
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Francisconi
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Viggiano
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Rocchi
authors.forename: V
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Zappavigna
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Malgaretti
authors.forename: G G
authors.initials: GG
authors.lastname: Consalez
mesh_terms: D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D001921:Brain / Q000378:metabolism; D017173:Caenorhabditis elegans / Q000235:genetics* / Q000254:growth & development; D002531:Cerebellum / Q000378:metabolism; D002874:Chromosome Mapping; D018244:Chromosomes, Artificial, Yeast; D002882:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 13; D002894:Chromosomes, Human, Pair 4; D003001:Cloning, Molecular; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian / Q000378:metabolism; D004625:Embryo, Nonmammalian; D005123:Eye / Q000378:metabolism; D015870:Gene Expression; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism; D006801:Humans; D017404:In Situ Hybridization, Fluorescence; D051379:Mice; D008815:Mice, Inbred Strains; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D010802:Phylogeny; D017386:Sequence Homology, Amino Acid
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins