| First Author | Lin JM | Year | 2018 |
| Journal | Dev Biol | Volume | 441 |
| Issue | 1 | Pages | 67-82 |
| PubMed ID | 29928868 | Mgi Jnum | J:264472 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:6196943 | Doi | 10.1016/j.ydbio.2018.06.007 |
| Citation | Lin JM, et al. (2018) The transcription factor Tfap2e/AP-2epsilon plays a pivotal role in maintaining the identity of basal vomeronasal sensory neurons. Dev Biol 441(1):67-82 |
| abstractText | The identity of individual neuronal cell types is defined and maintained by the expression of specific combinations of transcriptional regulators that control cell type-specific genetic programs. The epithelium of the vomeronasal organ of mice contains two major types of vomeronasal sensory neurons (VSNs): 1) the apical VSNs which express vomeronasal 1 receptors (V1r) and the G-protein subunit Galphai2 and; 2) the basal VSNs which express vomeronasal 2 receptors (V2r) and the G-protein subunit Galphao. Both cell types originate from a common pool of progenitors and eventually acquire apical or basal identity through largely unknown mechanisms. The transcription factor AP-2epsilon, encoded by the Tfap2e gene, plays a role in controlling the development of GABAergic interneurons in the main and accessory olfactory bulb (AOB), moreover AP-2epsilon has been previously described to be expressed in the basal VSNs. Here we show that AP-2epsilon is expressed in post-mitotic VSNs after they commit to the basal differentiation program. Loss of AP-2epsilon function resulted in reduced number of basal VSNs and in an increased number of neurons expressing markers of the apical lineage. Our work suggests that AP-2epsilon, which is expressed in late phases of differentiation, is not needed to initiate the apical-basal differentiation dichotomy but for maintaining the basal VSNs' identity. In AP-2epsilon mutants we observed a large number of cells that entered the basal program can express apical genes, our data suggest that differentiated VSNs of mice retain a notable level of plasticity. |
