title: Expressing TrkC from the TrkA locus causes a subset of dorsal root ganglia neurons to switch fate.
abstract: Tactile information is perceived by a heterogeneous population of specialized neurons. Neurotrophin receptors (the receptor tyrosine kinases, Trks) mark the major classes of these sensory neurons: TrkA is expressed in neurons that sense temperature and noxious stimuli, and TrkC is expressed in proprioceptive neurons that sense body position. Neurotrophin signaling through these receptors is required for cell survival. To test whether neurotrophins have an instructive role in sensory specification, we expressed rat TrkC from the TrkA (also known as Ntrk1) locus in mice. The surviving presumptive TrkA-expressing neurons adopted a proprioceptive phenotype, indicating that neurotrophin signaling can specify sensory neuron subtypes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Cell Biology, The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
authors.forename: Aziz
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Moqrich
authors.forename: Taryn J
authors.initials: TJ
authors.lastname: Earley
authors.forename: James
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Watson
authors.forename: Mary
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Andahazy
authors.forename: Carey
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Backus
authors.forename: Dionisio
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Martin-Zanca
authors.forename: Douglas E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Wright
authors.forename: Louis F
authors.initials: LF
authors.lastname: Reichardt
authors.forename: Ardem
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Patapoutian
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D015139:Blotting, Southern; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D005727:Ganglia, Spinal / Q000502:physiology*; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000502:physiology*; D010641:Phenotype; D011434:Proprioception / Q000502:physiology; D051381:Rats; D020917:Receptor, trkA / Q000235:genetics*; D020812:Receptor, trkC / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology
chemical_list: D009414:Nerve Growth Factors; D020917:Receptor, trkA; D020812:Receptor, trkC