PUBLICATION
Ascl1 Balances Neuronal versus Ependymal Fate in the Spinal Cord Central Canal
- Authors
- Di Bella, D.J., Carcagno, A.L., Bartolomeu, M.L., Pardi, M.B., Löhr, H., Siegel, N., Hammerschmidt, M., Marín-Burgin, A., Lanuza, G.M.
- ID
- ZDB-PUB-200826-10
- Date
- 2019
- Source
- Cell Reports 28: 2264-2274.e3 (Journal)
- Registered Authors
- Hammerschmidt, Matthias, Löhr, Heiko, Siegel, Nicol
- Keywords
- Ascl1, CSF-cN, CSF-contacting neurons, central canal, ependymocytes, late neurogenesis, neural progenitor, neuron specification, spinal cord, transcription factor
- MeSH Terms
-
- Animals
- Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors/genetics
- Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Transcription Factors/metabolism*
- Ependyma/cytology
- Ependyma/metabolism*
- Mice
- Neurogenesis*
- Neurons/cytology
- Neurons/metabolism*
- Spinal Cord/cytology
- Spinal Cord/embryology
- Spinal Cord/metabolism
- Zebrafish
- PubMed
- 31461644 Full text @ Cell Rep.
Citation
Di Bella, D.J., Carcagno, A.L., Bartolomeu, M.L., Pardi, M.B., Löhr, H., Siegel, N., Hammerschmidt, M., Marín-Burgin, A., Lanuza, G.M. (2019) Ascl1 Balances Neuronal versus Ependymal Fate in the Spinal Cord Central Canal. Cell Reports. 28:2264-2274.e3.
Abstract
Generation of neuronal types at the right time, location, and number is essential for building a functional nervous system. Significant progress has been reached in understanding the mechanisms that govern neuronal diversity. Cerebrospinal fluid-contacting neurons (CSF-cNs), an intriguing spinal cord central canal population, are produced during advanced developmental stages, simultaneous with glial and ependymal cells. It is unknown how CSF-cNs are specified after the neurogenesis-to-gliogenesis switch. Here, we identify delayed Ascl1 expression in mouse spinal progenitors during the gliogenic phase as key in CSF-cN differentiation. With fate mappings and time-controlled deletions, we demonstrate that CSF-cNs derive from Ascl1-expressing cells and that Ascl1 triggers late neurogenesis in the amniote spinal cord. Ascl1 abrogation transforms prospective CSF-cN progenitors into ependymocytes. These results demonstrate that late spinal progenitors have the potential to produce neurons and that Ascl1 initiates CSF-cN differentiation, controlling the precise neuronal and nonneuronal composition of the spinal central canal.
Genes / Markers
Expression
Phenotype
Mutations / Transgenics
Human Disease / Model
Sequence Targeting Reagents
Fish
Orthology
Engineered Foreign Genes
Mapping