The Activin signaling pathway promotes differentiation of dI3 interneurons in the spinal neural tube Journal Article
| Authors: | Timmer, J.; Chesnutt, C.; Niswander, L. |
| Article Title: | The Activin signaling pathway promotes differentiation of dI3 interneurons in the spinal neural tube |
| Abstract: | The generation of the appropriate types and numbers of mature neurons during the development of the spinal cord requires the careful coordination of patterning, proliferation, and differentiation. In the dorsal neural tube, this coordination is achieved by the combined action of multiple ligands of both the Wnt and TGF-β families, and their effectors, such as the bHLH proteins. TGF-β signaling acting through the BMP receptors is necessary for the generation of several dorsal interneuron types. Other TGF-β ligands expressed in the dorsal neural tube interact with the Activin receptors, which signal via a different set of SMAD proteins than BMPs. The effects of Activin signaling on the developing neural tube have not been described. Here we have activated the Activin signal transduction pathway in a cell-autonomous manner in the developing chick neural tube. We find that a constitutively active Activin receptor promotes differentiation throughout the neural tube. Although most differentiated cell populations are unaffected by Activin signaling, the number of dorsal interneuron 3 (dI3) cells is specifically increased. Our data suggest that Activin signaling may promote the formation of the dI3 precursor cells within a region circumscribed by BMP signaling and that this function is not dependent upon BMP signaling. © 2005 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. |
| Keywords: | signal transduction; nonhuman; protein function; animal cell; animals; bone morphogenetic protein; transforming growth factor beta; embryo; cell differentiation; cell population; stem cell; gene expression regulation, developmental; interneuron; spinal cord; interneurons; cell count; nerve cell differentiation; body patterning; multipotent stem cells; neural tube; chick embryo; bone morphogenetic proteins; chicken; tgf-β; neural development; activin receptors, type i; bmp signaling; activin signaling; activin; activin receptor; activins |
| Journal Title: | Developmental Biology |
| Volume: | 285 |
| Issue: | 1 |
| ISSN: | 0012-1606 |
| Publisher: | Elsevier Inc. |
| Date Published: | 2005-09-01 |
| Start Page: | 1 |
| End Page: | 10 |
| Language: | English |
| DOI: | 10.1016/j.ydbio.2005.05.039 |
| PUBMED: | 16039645 |
| PROVIDER: | scopus |
| DOI/URL: | |
| Notes: | --- - "Cited By (since 1996): 14" - "Export Date: 24 October 2012" - "CODEN: DEBIA" - "Source: Scopus" |
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