title: Identification of novel candidate regulators of retinotectal map formation through transcriptional profiling of the chick optic tectum.
abstract: Information from the retina is carried along the visual pathway with accuracy and spatial conservation as a result of topographically mapped axonal connections. The optic tectum in the midbrain is the primary region to which retinal ganglion cells project their axons in the chick. The two primary axes of the retina project independently onto the tectum using different sets of guidance cues to give rise to the retinotectal map. Specificity of the map is determined by attractive or repulsive interactions between molecular tags that are distributed in gradients in the retina and the tectum. Despite several studies, knowledge of the retinotectal guidance molecules is far from being complete. We screened for all molecules that are expressed differentially along the anterior-posterior and medial-lateral axes of the chick tectum using microarray based transcriptional profiling and identified several novel candidate retinotectal guidance molecules. Two such genes, encoding Wnt5a and Raldh2, the synthesizing enzymes for retinoic acid, were further analyzed for their function as putative regulators of retinotectal map formation. Wnt5a and retinoic acid were found to exhibit differential effects on the growth of axons from retinal explants derived from different quadrants of the retina. This screen also yielded a large number of genes expressed in a lamina-specific manner in the tectum, which may have other roles in tectal development. J. Comp. Neurol. 525:459-477, 2017. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208016, India.|Shweta Kukreja is now at the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, 01605.
authors.forename: Shweta
authors.identifier: 0000-0001-6794-9016
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Kukreja
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208016, India.|Pratibha Gautam is now at the Kusuma School of Biological Sciences, Indian Institute of Technology Delhi, Hauz Khas, New Delhi, 110016, India.
authors.forename: Pratibha
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gautam
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208016, India.|Richa Saxena is now at the Central Drug Research Institute, Jankipuram, Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh, 226031, India.
authors.forename: Richa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208016, India.
authors.forename: Monika
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Saxena
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208016, India.
authors.forename: Niveda
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Udaykumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208016, India.
authors.forename: Aditi
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208016, India.
authors.forename: Ritesh
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Bhatt
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208016, India.
authors.forename: Vidur
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Kumar
authors.affiliation: Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengineering, Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur, Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh, 208016, India.
authors.forename: Jonaki
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Sen
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D030161:Avian Proteins / Q000378:metabolism; D002642:Chick Embryo; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; D017403:In Situ Hybridization; D046228:Microarray Analysis; D000071446:Neuronal Outgrowth / Q000502:physiology; D060888:Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction; D012160:Retina / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D013477:Superior Colliculi / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology* / Q000378:metabolism*; D046509:Tissue Culture Techniques; D059467:Transcriptome; D014795:Visual Pathways / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000378:metabolism
chemical_list: D030161:Avian Proteins
keywords: AB_2210524; AB_2493180; AB_514497; SCR_011860; Wnt5a; axon guidance; retinal explants; retinoic acid; retinotectal map