| First Author | Fujitani M | Year | 2010 |
| Journal | Curr Biol | Volume | 20 |
| Issue | 22 | Pages | 2058-65 |
| PubMed ID | 21074438 | Mgi Jnum | J:166766 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:4849585 | Doi | 10.1016/j.cub.2010.10.029 |
| Citation | Fujitani M, et al. (2010) TAp73 acts via the bHLH Hey2 to promote long-term maintenance of neural precursors. Curr Biol 20(22):2058-65 |
| abstractText | Increasing evidence suggests that deficits in adult stem cell maintenance cause aberrant tissue repair and premature aging [1]. While the mechanisms regulating stem cell longevity are largely unknown, recent studies have implicated p53 and its family member p63. Both proteins regulate organismal aging [2-4] as well as survival and self-renewal of tissue stem cells [5-9]. Intriguingly, haploinsufficiency for a third family member, p73, causes age-related neurodegeneration [10]. While this phenotype is at least partially due to loss of the DeltaNp73 isoform, a potent neuronal prosurvival protein [11-16], a recent study showed that mice lacking the other p73 isoform, TAp73, have perturbations in the hippocampal dentate gyrus [17], a major neurogenic site in the adult brain. These findings, and the link between the p53 family, stem cells, and aging, suggest that TAp73 might play a previously unanticipated role in maintenance of neural stem cells. Here, we have tested this hypothesis and show that TAp73 ensures normal adult neurogenesis by promoting the long-term maintenance of neural stem cells. Moreover, we show that TAp73 does this by transcriptionally regulating the bHLH Hey2, which itself promotes neural precursor maintenance by preventing premature differentiation. |
