title: Development of regional specificity of spinal and medullary dorsal horn neurons.
abstract: Extensive studies have focused on the development and regionalization of neurons in the central nervous system (CNS). Many genes, which play crucial roles in the development of CNS neurons, have been identified. By using the technique "direct reprogramming", neurons can be produced from multiple cell sources such as fibroblasts. However, understanding the region-specific regulation of neurons in the CNS is still one of the biggest challenges in the research field of neuroscience. Neurons located in the trigeminal subnucleus caudalis (Vc) and in the spinal dorsal horn (SDH) play crucial roles in pain and sensorimotor functions in the orofacial and other somatic body regions, respectively. Anatomically, Vc represents the most caudal component of the trigeminal system, and is contiguous with SDH. This review is focused on recent data dealing with the regional specificity involved in the development of neurons in Vc and SDH.
authors.affiliation: Yu-Feng Xie, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto M5S 3M3, Canada.
authors.forename: Yu-Feng
authors.initials: YF
authors.lastname: Xie
authors.affiliation: Yu-Feng Xie, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto M5S 3M3, Canada.
authors.forename: Xing-Hong
authors.initials: XH
authors.lastname: Jiang
authors.affiliation: Yu-Feng Xie, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto M5S 3M3, Canada.
authors.forename: Barry J
authors.initials: BJ
authors.lastname: Sessle
authors.affiliation: Yu-Feng Xie, Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto M5S 3M3, Canada.
authors.forename: Xian-Min
authors.initials: XM
authors.lastname: Yu
keywords: Central nervous system; Development; Pain; Regionalization; Spinal cord; Trigeminal subnucleus caudalis