English (United Kingdom)

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/featured_content/oa?rat=en

https://curated-unify.zendy.io/wp-json/zendy-region/v1/highlighted_journal/

Global: Zendy Plus annual

Presents the access of premium content as premium feature

Premium Content

Presents the keyphrase highlighting as premium feature

Keyphrase Highlighting

Presents the summarisation as premium feature

Summarisation

Insights

Presents the pdf analysis as premium feature

PDF Analysis

Presents the zaia usage as premium feature

ZAIA

Global: Zendy Tools annual

Global: Zendy Free Plan

Global: Zendy Tools monthly

Global: Zendy Plus monthly

Progenitor cells committed to eye development become specified in the prospective forebrain and develop subsequently into the optic vesicle and the optic cup. The optic vesicle induces formation of the lens placode in surface ectoderm from which the lens develops. Numerous transcription factors are involved in this process, including the eye-field transcription factors. However, many of these transcription factors also regulate the patterning of the anterior neural plate and their specific role in eye development is difficult to discern since eye-committed progenitor cells are poorly defined. By using a specific part of the  Lhx2  promoter to regulate  Cre  recombinase expression in transgenic mice we have been able to define a distinct progenitor cell population in the forebrain solely committed to eye development. Conditional inactivation of  Lhx2  in these progenitor cells causes an arrest in eye development at the stage when the optic vesicle induces lens placode formation in the surface ectoderm. The eye-committed progenitor cell population is present in the  Lhx2 −/−   embryonic forebrain suggesting that commitment to eye development is Lhx2-independent. However, re-expression of Lhx2 in  Lhx2 −/−   progenitor cells only promotes development of retinal pigment epithelium cells, indicating that Lhx2 promotes the acquisition of the oligopotent fate of these progenitor cells. This approach also allowed us to identify genes that distinguish  Lhx2  function in eye development from that in the forebrain. Thus, we have defined a distinct progenitor cell population in the forebrain committed to eye development and identified genes linked to Lhx2's function in the expansion and patterning of these progenitor cells.

Lhx2 Is Required for Patterning and Expansion of a Distinct Progenitor Cell Population Committed to Eye Development