title: Roles of Runx Genes in Nervous System Development.
abstract: Runt-related (Runx) transcription factors play essential roles during development and adult tissue homeostasis and are responsible for several human diseases. They regulate a variety of biological mechanisms in numerous cell lineages. Recent years have seen significant progress in our understanding of the functions performed by Runx proteins in the developing and postnatal mammalian nervous system. In both central and peripheral nervous systems, Runx1 and Runx3 display remarkably specific expression in mostly non-overlapping groups of postmitotic neurons. In the central nervous system, Runx1 is involved in the development of selected motor neurons controlling neural circuits mediating vital functions such as chewing, swallowing, breathing, and locomotion. In the peripheral nervous system, Runx1 and Runx3 play essential roles during the development of sensory neurons involved in circuits mediating pain, itch, thermal sensation and sense of relative position. Runx1 and Runx3 orchestrate complex gene expression programs controlling neuronal subtype specification and axonal connectivity. Runx1 is also important in the olfactory system, where it regulates the progenitor-to-neuron transition in undifferentiated neural progenitor cells in the olfactory epithelium as well as the proliferation and developmental maturation of specific glial cells termed olfactory ensheathing cells. Moreover, upregulated Runx expression is associated with brain injury and disease. Increasing knowledge of the functions of Runx proteins in the developing and postnatal nervous system is therefore expected to improve our understanding of nervous system development, homeostasis and disease.
authors.affiliation: Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A2B4, Canada.
authors.forename: Jae Woong
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Montreal Neurological Institute, Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery, McGill University, Montreal, QC, H3A2B4, Canada. stefano.stifani@mcgill.ca.
authors.forename: Stefano
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Stifani
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D019070:Cell Lineage / Q000502:physiology; D050657:Core Binding Factor alpha Subunits / Q000378:metabolism*; D018507:Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental / Q000502:physiology; D006801:Humans; D009420:Nervous System / Q000254:growth & development* / Q000378:metabolism*; D038081:Organogenesis / Q000502:physiology*
chemical_list: D050657:Core Binding Factor alpha Subunits
keywords: Astrocyte; Dorsal root ganglion; Hypoglossal motor neuron; Microglia; Motor neuron somatotopic map formation; Muscle innervation; Nociception; Olfactory ensheathing cells; Olfactory epithelium; Parabrachial nucleus; Proprioception; Runx1; Runx2; Runx3; Sensory neuron development