Foxn4 controls the genesis of amacrine and horizontal cells by retinal progenitors.
During vertebrate retinogenesis, seven classes of cells are specified from multipotent progenitors. To date, the mechanisms underlying multipotent cell fate determination by retinal progenitors remain poorly understood. Here, we show that the Foxn4 winged helix/forkhead transcription factor is expressed in a subset of mitotic progenitors during mouse retinogenesis. Targeted disruption of Foxn4 largely eliminates amacrine neurons and completely abolishes horizontal cells, while overexpression of Foxn4 strongly promotes an amacrine cell fate. These results indicate that Foxn4 is both necessary and sufficient for commitment to the amacrine cell fate and is nonredundantly required for the genesis of horizontal cells. Furthermore, we provide evidence that Foxn4 controls the formation of amacrine and horizontal cells by activating the expression of the retinogenic factors Math3, NeuroD1, and Prox1. Our data suggest a model in which Foxn4 cooperates with other key retinogenic factors to mediate the multipotent differentiation of retinal progenitors.
Li
Shengguo
S
Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, 679 Hoes Lane, Piscataway, NJ 08854 USA.
Mo
Zeqian
Z
Yang
Xuejie
X
Price
Sandy M
SM
Shen
Michael M
MM
Xiang
Mengqing
M
D000367:Age Factors; D000818:Animals; D000831:Animals, Newborn; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D004622:Embryo, Mammalian; D005136:Eye Proteins / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology*; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D055351:Retinal Neurons / Q000166:cytology* / Q000502:physiology; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*
D005136:Eye Proteins; D051858:Forkhead Transcription Factors; C438622:Foxn4 protein, mouse; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins