title: Postnatal signalling with homeoprotein transcription factors.
abstract: Homeoprotein (HP) transcription factors were originally identified for their embryonic cell-autonomous developmental functions. In this review, we discuss their postnatal and adult physiological functions based on the study of Otx2, Engrailed-1 and Engrailed-2 (collectively Engrailed). For Engrailed, we discuss its function in the cell-autonomous regulation of ventral midbrain dopaminergic neuron survival and physiology and in the non-cell-autonomous maintenance of axons. For Otx2, we describe how the protein is expressed in the choroid plexus and transported into cortical parvalbumin cells where it regulates plasticity in the visual cortex. These two examples illustrate how the understanding of HP postnatal and adult functions, including signalling functions, may lead to the identification of disease-associated genetic pathways and to the development of original therapeutic strategies.
authors.affiliation: CIRB, CNRS UMR 7241/INSERM U1050, College de France, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, Paris Cedex 05 75231, France alain.prochiantz@college-de-france.fr.
authors.forename: Alain
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Prochiantz
authors.affiliation: CIRB, CNRS UMR 7241/INSERM U1050, College de France, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, Paris Cedex 05 75231, France.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fuchs
authors.affiliation: CIRB, CNRS UMR 7241/INSERM U1050, College de France, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, Paris Cedex 05 75231, France.
authors.forename: Ariel A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Di Nardo
mesh_terms: D001369:Axons / Q000502:physiology; D002470:Cell Survival / Q000502:physiology; D002831:Choroid Plexus / Q000378:metabolism; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000502:physiology*; D018628:Gene Dosage / Q000235:genetics; D018398:Homeodomain Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008928:Mitochondria / Q000502:physiology; D008959:Models, Neurological; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D009473:Neuronal Plasticity / Q000502:physiology*; D051857:Otx Transcription Factors / Q000378:metabolism*; D015398:Signal Transduction / Q000502:physiology*; D014793:Visual Cortex / Q000502:physiology*; D000099266:Engrailed 2 Protein
chemical_list: D018398:Homeodomain Proteins; D009419:Nerve Tissue Proteins; D051857:Otx Transcription Factors; D000099266:Engrailed 2 Protein; C513076:EN1 protein, human; C497659:OTX2 protein, human
keywords: Parkinson's; homeoprotein; plasticity; signalling; synapse