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An intersectional gene regulatory strategy defines subclass diversity of C. elegans motor neurons

A core principle of nervous system organization is the diversification of neuron classes into subclasses that share large sets of features but differ in select traits. We describe here a molecular mechanism necessary for motor neurons to acquire subclass-specific traits in the nematode Caenorhabditi...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Kratsios, Paschalis, Kerk, Sze Yen, Catela, Catarina, Liang, Joseph, Vidal, Berta, Bayer, Emily A, Feng, Weidong, De La Cruz, Estanisla Daniel, Croci, Laura, Consalez, G Giacomo, Mizumoto, Kota, Hobert, Oliver
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5498135/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28677525
http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.25751
Descripción
Sumario:A core principle of nervous system organization is the diversification of neuron classes into subclasses that share large sets of features but differ in select traits. We describe here a molecular mechanism necessary for motor neurons to acquire subclass-specific traits in the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. Cholinergic motor neuron classes of the ventral nerve cord can be subdivided into subclasses along the anterior-posterior (A-P) axis based on synaptic connectivity patterns and molecular features. The conserved COE-type terminal selector UNC-3 not only controls the expression of traits shared by all members of a neuron class, but is also required for subclass-specific traits expressed along the A-P axis. UNC-3, which is not regionally restricted, requires region-specific cofactors in the form of Hox proteins to co-activate subclass-specific effector genes in post-mitotic motor neurons. This intersectional gene regulatory principle for neuronal subclass diversification may be conserved from nematodes to mice. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.25751.001