Abstract
The vertebrate spinal cord comprises multiple functionally distinct neuronal cell types arranged in characteristic positions. During development, these different types of neurons differentiate from transcriptionally distinct neural progenitors that are arrayed in discrete domains along the dorsal-ventral and anterior-posterior axes of the embryonic spinal cord. This organization arises in response to morphogen gradients acting upstream of a gene regulatory network, the architecture of which determines the spatial and temporal pattern of gene expression. In recent years, substantial progress has been made in deciphering the regulatory network that underlies the specification of distinct progenitor and neuronal cell identities. In this Review, we outline how distinct neuronal cell identities are established in response to spatial and temporal patterning systems, and outline novel experimental approaches to study the emergence and function of neuronal diversity in the spinal cord.
Highlights
The spinal cord is crucial for how we perceive and interact with our environment
We do not provide a molecular mechanism for the formation of every neuronal subtype described in the literature, we argue that the framework is established to achieve this goal
A comparison of Neurog2and Lhx3/Islet 1 (Isl1)-bound regions during reprogramming of embryonic stem cells (ESCs) to motor neurons (MNs) revealed that Lhx3/Isl1 co-occupied sites specific for MN generation, whereas Neurog2 controls genes more generally associated with neuronal differentiation (Velasco et al, 2017)
Summary
The spinal cord is crucial for how we perceive and interact with our environment. Perception of sensory information from our skin, muscles and internal organs depends on the activities of several classes of neurons, the cell bodies of which reside predominantly within the dorsal horns of the spinal cord. These studies suggest that Wnt and BMP ligands are required for the establishment of dorsal progenitor identities in the spinal cord, but how these signals function to specify distinct identities, and the epistasis between them, is still unclear.
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