Back to Search
Start Over
The role of the diencephalon in the guidance of thalamocortical axons in mice.
- Source :
-
Development (Cambridge, England) [Development] 2020 Jun 26; Vol. 147 (12). Date of Electronic Publication: 2020 Jun 26. - Publication Year :
- 2020
-
Abstract
- Thalamocortical axons (TCAs) cross several tissues on their journey to the cortex. Mechanisms must be in place along the route to ensure they connect with their targets in an orderly fashion. The ventral telencephalon acts as an instructive tissue, but the importance of the diencephalon in TCA mapping is unknown. We report that disruption of diencephalic development by Pax6 deletion results in a thalamocortical projection containing mapping errors. We used conditional mutagenesis to test whether these errors are due to the disruption of pioneer projections from prethalamus to thalamus and found that, although this correlates with abnormal TCA fasciculation, it does not induce topographical errors. To test whether the thalamus contains navigational cues for TCAs, we used slice culture transplants and gene expression studies. We found the thalamic environment is instructive for TCA navigation and that the molecular cues netrin 1 and semaphorin 3a are likely to be involved. Our findings indicate that the correct topographic mapping of TCAs onto the cortex requires the order to be established from the earliest stages of their growth by molecular cues in the thalamus itself.<br />Competing Interests: Competing interestsThe authors declare no competing or financial interests.<br /> (© 2020. Published by The Company of Biologists Ltd.)
- Subjects :
- Animals
Diencephalon pathology
Embryo, Mammalian metabolism
Embryo, Mammalian pathology
Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental
Homeodomain Proteins metabolism
Mice
Mice, Inbred C57BL
Mice, Inbred CBA
Mice, Knockout
Mutagenesis
Netrin-1 metabolism
Organ Culture Techniques
PAX6 Transcription Factor deficiency
PAX6 Transcription Factor genetics
PAX6 Transcription Factor metabolism
Semaphorin-3A metabolism
Thalamus pathology
Axons physiology
Diencephalon metabolism
Thalamus metabolism
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 1477-9129
- Volume :
- 147
- Issue :
- 12
- Database :
- MEDLINE
- Journal :
- Development (Cambridge, England)
- Publication Type :
- Academic Journal
- Accession number :
- 32541009
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.1242/dev.184523