Open AccessSpatiotemporal expression patterns of chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factors in the developing mouse central nervous system: evidence for a role in segmental patterning of the diencephalon.
Author(s) -
Yuhong Qiu,
Austin J. Cooney,
Shigeru Kuratani,
Francesco J. DeMayo,
Sophia Y. Tsai,
MingJer Tsai
Publication year - 1994
Publication title -
proceedings of the national academy of sciences of the united states of america
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 5.011
H-Index - 771
eISSN - 1091-6490
pISSN - 0027-8424
DOI - 10.1073/pnas.91.10.4451
Subject(s) - biology , diencephalon , transcription factor , gene , subfamily , enhancer , gene expression , ovalbumin , homeobox , in situ hybridization , microbiology and biotechnology , genetics , central nervous system , neuroscience , immune system
Chicken ovalbumin upstream promoter-transcription factor (COUP-TF) genes encode transcription factors belonging to the orphan subfamily of the steroid/thyroid hormone receptor superfamily. Two COUP-TF counterparts have been cloned from mouse. In an attempt to study the function of these genes in the developing central nervous system (CNS), the spatiotemporal expression patterns of the two mouse genes have been examined by in situ hybridization. Both genes are widely expressed in the developing CNS, with patterns that are overlapping yet distinct from each other. The differential expression of murine COUP-TFI and -II in the diencephalon is striking in that high levels of expression from each gene are confined to specific segmental compartments--the neuromeres. Our results suggest that murine COUP-TFs may play important roles in the development and differentiation of the CNS, including the specification of diencephalic neuromeres.