Hox genes: the instructors working at motor pools.
Motor neurons are assigned unique subidentities preceding their axon navigation. This ensures proper innervation of muscle targets and is accompanied by a stereotypical clustering of motor neuron cell bodies into "motor pools" within the spinal cord. However, the mechanisms that drive motor neuron diversification have been poorly understood. A new study by Dasen et al. (2005) in this issue of Cell shows that a network of Hox genes is responsible for instructing motor pool development.
Song
Mi-Ryoung
MR
Gene Expression Laboratory, The Salk Institute, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
Pfaff
Samuel L
SL
D000818:Animals; D019521:Body Patterning / Q000502:physiology; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000502:physiology*; D009046:Motor Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology; D013116:Spinal Cord / Q000196:embryology / Q000502:physiology*
D018398:Homeodomain Proteins