title: Conserved microRNA pathway regulates developmental timing of retinal neurogenesis.
abstract: Most regions of the vertebrate central nervous system develop by the sequential addition of different classes of neurons and glia. This phenomenon has been best characterized in laminated structures like the retina and the cerebral cortex, in which the progenitor cells in these structures are thought to change in their competence as development proceeds to generate different types of neurons in a stereotypic sequence that is conserved across vertebrates. We previously reported that conditional deletion of Dicer prevents the change in competence of progenitors to generate later-born cell types, suggesting that specific microRNAs (miRNAs) are required for this developmental transition. In this report, we now show that three miRNAs, let-7, miR-125, and miR-9, are key regulators of the early to late developmental transition in retinal progenitors: (i) members of these three miRNA families increase over the relevant developmental period in normal retinal progenitors; (ii) inhibiting the function of these miRNAs produces changes in retinal development similar to Dicer CKO; (iii) overexpression of members of these three miRNA families in Dicer-CKO retinas can rescue the phenotype, allowing their progression to late progenitors; (iv) overexpression of these miRNAs can accelerate normal retinal development; (v) microarray and computational analyses of Dicer-CKO retinal cells identified two potential targets of the late-progenitor miRNAs: Protogenin (Prtg) and Lin28b; and (vi) overexpression of either Lin28 or Prtg can maintain the early progenitor state. Together, these data demonstrate that a conserved miRNA pathway controls a key step in the progression of temporal identity in retinal progenitors.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Structure, Institute for Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA 98195, USA.
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: La Torre
authors.forename: Sean
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Georgi
authors.forename: Thomas A
authors.initials: TA
authors.lastname: Reh
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D018345:Mice, Knockout; D008822:Mice, Transgenic; D035683:MicroRNAs / Q000235:genetics* / Q000378:metabolism*; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism; D055495:Neurogenesis / Q000235:genetics* / Q000502:physiology*; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; D012160:Retina / Q000196:embryology* / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism; D043244:Ribonuclease III / Q000172:deficiency / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; C570876:Lin28b protein, mouse; C551804:MIRN9 microRNA, mouse; D008565:Membrane Proteins; D035683:MicroRNAs; C527468:Mirn125 microRNA, mouse; D016601:RNA-Binding Proteins; C542687:mirnlet7 microRNA, mouse; C516330:protogenin, mouse; C509781:Dicer1 protein, mouse; D043244:Ribonuclease III; D053487:DEAD-box RNA Helicases
keywords: heterochronic; progenitor competence