Abstract
The molecular mechanisms that activate morphogenesis of cerebral cortex are currently the subject of intensive experimental analysis. Transcription factor genes of the homeobox, basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) and zinc-finger families have recently been shown to have essential roles in this process. However, the actual selector genes activating corticogenesis have not yet been identified. Here we show that high-level expression of at least one functional allele of either of the homeobox genes Emx2 or Pax6 in the dorsal telencephalon is necessary and sufficient to stably activate morphogenesis of cerebral cortex and to repress that of adjacent structures, such as striatum.
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Change history
07 February 2012
In the version of this article initially published, author Barbara Di Benedetto's name was misspelled. The error has been corrected in the HTML and PDF versions of the article.
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Acknowledgements
We thank J. Parnavelas, P. Bovolenta and A. Bulfone for critical reading of the manuscript. This work was funded by the EU (QLG3-CT-2000-00158; QLG3-CT-2000-01625; HPRN-CT-2000-00097), the Italian Ministery of Health (CS030.5/RF00.73), the Italian National Research Council (PF01.00026.PF49) and the University Excellence Center on Physiopathology of Cell.
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Muzio, L., Di Benedetto, B., Stoykova, A. et al. Conversion of cerebral cortex into basal ganglia in Emx2−/− Pax6Sey/Sey double-mutant mice. Nat Neurosci 5, 737–745 (2002). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn892
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nn892
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