PUBLICATION

Regulation of neuronal specification in the zebrafish spinal cord by Delta function

Authors
Appel, B. and Eisen, J.S.
ID
ZDB-PUB-980326-3
Date
1998
Source
Development (Cambridge, England)   125: 371-380 (Journal)
Registered Authors
Appel, Bruce, Eisen, Judith S.
Keywords
lateral inhibition; neurogenesis; neurogenic genes; pattern formation; motoneurons
MeSH Terms
  • Animals
  • Antigens, Surface/genetics
  • Body Patterning/genetics
  • Cloning, Molecular
  • ELAV Proteins
  • ELAV-Like Protein 3
  • Embryonic Induction
  • Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental/physiology*
  • Interneurons/cytology
  • Intracellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins
  • Membrane Proteins/genetics
  • Membrane Proteins/physiology*
  • Molecular Sequence Data
  • Motor Neurons/cytology
  • Nerve Tissue Proteins/genetics
  • Neurons/cytology*
  • RNA, Messenger/analysis
  • RNA, Messenger/pharmacology
  • RNA-Binding Proteins*
  • Spinal Cord/chemistry
  • Spinal Cord/cytology
  • Spinal Cord/embryology*
  • Zebrafish
  • Zebrafish Proteins*
PubMed
9425133 Full text @ Development
Abstract
The vertebrate spinal cord consists of a large number of different cell types in close proximity to one another. The identities of these cells appear to be specified largely by information acquired from their local environments. We report here that local cell-cell interactions, mediated by zebrafish homologues of the Drosophila melanogaster neurogenic gene, Delta, regulate specification of diverse neuronal types in the ventral spinal cord. We describe identification of a novel zebrafish Delta gene expressed specifically in the nervous system and show, by expressing a dominant negative form of Delta protein in embryos, that Delta proteins mediate lateral inhibition in the zebrafish spinal cord. Furthermore, we find that Delta function is important for specification of a variety of spinal cord neurons, suggesting that lateral inhibition serves to diversify neuronal fate during development of the vertebrate spinal cord.
Genes / Markers
Figures
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Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Antibodies
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping