title: The gene regulatory networks underlying formation of the auditory hindbrain.
abstract: Development and evolution of auditory hindbrain nuclei are two major unsolved issues in hearing research. Recent characterization of transgenic mice identified the rhombomeric origins of mammalian auditory nuclei and unraveled genes involved in their formation. Here, we provide an overview on these data by assembling them into rhombomere-specific gene regulatory networks (GRNs), as they underlie developmental and evolutionary processes. To explore evolutionary mechanisms, we compare the GRNs operating in the mammalian auditory hindbrain with data available from the inner ear and other vertebrate groups. Finally, we propose that the availability of genomic sequences from all major vertebrate taxa and novel genetic techniques for non-model organisms provide an unprecedented opportunity to investigate development and evolution of the auditory hindbrain by comparative molecular approaches. The dissection of the molecular mechanisms leading to auditory structures will also provide an important framework for auditory processing disorders, a clinical problem difficult to tackle so far. These data will, therefore, foster basic and clinical hearing research alike.
authors.affiliation: Neurogenetics group, Center of Excellence Hearing4All, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany. marc.willaredt@uni-oldenburg.de.
authors.forename: Marc A
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Willaredt
authors.affiliation: Neurogenetics group, Center of Excellence Hearing4All, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany.
authors.forename: Tina
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Schlüter
authors.affiliation: Neurogenetics group, Center of Excellence Hearing4All, School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany. hans.g.nothwang@uni-oldenburg.de.|Research Center for Neurosensory Science, Carl von Ossietzky University Oldenburg, 26111, Oldenburg, Germany. hans.g.nothwang@uni-oldenburg.de.
authors.forename: Hans Gerd
authors.initials: HG
authors.lastname: Nothwang
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001307:Auditory Perception / Q000502:physiology*; D005075:Biological Evolution; D017626:Cochlear Nucleus / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D053263:Gene Regulatory Networks / Q000235:genetics / Q000502:physiology*; D006309:Hearing / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D007245:Inferior Colliculi / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D051379:Mice; D008954:Models, Biological; D013045:Species Specificity; D065832:Superior Olivary Complex / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism; D014212:Tretinoin / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D014212:Tretinoin