title: Ascl1 and Gsh1/2 control inhibitory and excitatory cell fate in spinal sensory interneurons.
abstract: Sensory information from the periphery is integrated and transduced by excitatory and inhibitory interneurons in the dorsal spinal cord. Recent studies have identified a number of postmitotic factors that control the generation of these sensory interneurons. We show that Gsh1/2 and Ascl1 (Mash1), which are expressed in sensory interneuron progenitors, control the choice between excitatory and inhibitory cell fates in the developing mouse spinal cord. During the early phase of neurogenesis, Gsh1/2 and Ascl1 coordinately regulate the expression of Tlx3, which is a critical postmitotic determinant for dorsal glutamatergic sensory interneurons. However, at later developmental times, Ascl1 controls the expression of Ptf1a in dIL(A) progenitors to promote inhibitory neuron differentiation while at the same time upregulating Notch signaling to ensure the proper generation of dIL(B) excitatory neurons. We propose that this switch in Ascl1 function enables the cogeneration of inhibitory and excitatory sensory interneurons from a common pool of dorsal progenitors.
authors.affiliation: Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, 10010 North Torrey Pines Road, La Jolla, California 92037, USA.
authors.forename: Rumiko
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mizuguchi
authors.forename: Sonja
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kriks
authors.forename: Ralf
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Cordes
authors.forename: Achim
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gossler
authors.forename: Qiufu
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Ma
authors.forename: Martyn
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Goulding
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000235:genetics*; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000235:genetics*; D019706:Excitatory Postsynaptic Potentials / Q000235:genetics; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000235:genetics; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000235:genetics*; D007395:Interneurons / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D051379:Mice; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D009433:Neural Inhibition / Q000235:genetics; D009434:Neural Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism; D020671:Posterior Horn Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051881:Receptor, Notch1 / Q000378:metabolism; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000235:genetics; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D009435:Synaptic Transmission / Q000235:genetics; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D051881:Receptor, Notch1; D014157:Transcription Factors; C499317:Ascl1 protein, mouse; C098513:Gsh1 protein, mouse; C109498:Gsh2 protein, mouse; C497762:Notch1 protein, mouse; C062602:transcription factor PTF1