title: Miswiring of limbic thalamocortical projections in the absence of ephrin-A5.
abstract: Axon guidance cues of the ephrin ligand family have been hypothesized to regulate the formation of thalamocortical connections, but in vivo evidence for such a role has not been examined directly. To test whether ephrin-mediated repulsive cues participate in sorting the projections originating from distinct thalamic nuclei, we analyzed the organization of somatosensory and anterior cingulate afferents postnatally in mice lacking ephrin-A5 gene expression. Projections from ventrobasal and laterodorsal nuclei to their respective sensory and limbic cortical areas developed normally. However, a portion of limbic thalamic neurons from the laterodorsal nucleus also formed additional projections to somatosensory cortical territories, thus maintaining inappropriate dual projections to multiple cortical regions. These results suggest that ephrin-A5 is not required for the formation of normal cortical projections from the appropriate thalamic nuclei, but rather acts as a guidance cue that restricts limbic thalamic axons from inappropriate neocortical regions.
authors.affiliation: Universität Jena, Institut für Allgemeine Zoologie und Tierphysiologie, 07743 Jena, Germany.
authors.forename: Daniela
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Uziel
authors.forename: Sven
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mühlfriedel
authors.forename: Kostas
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Zarbalis
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Wurst
authors.forename: Pat
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Levitt
authors.forename: Jürgen
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Bolz
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002452:Cell Count; D002540:Cerebral Cortex / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000473:pathology*; D036386:Ephrin-A5 / Q000172:deficiency* / Q000235:genetics; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes; D006179:Gyrus Cinguli / Q000473:pathology; D006720:Homozygote; D008032:Limbic System / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000473:pathology*; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009421:Nervous System Malformations / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D009474:Neurons / Q000473:pathology; D013787:Thalamic Nuclei / Q000473:pathology; D013788:Thalamus / Q000002:abnormalities / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D036386:Ephrin-A5; D005456:Fluorescent Dyes