Journal
JOURNAL OF NEUROSCIENCE
Volume 24, Issue 1, Pages 229-237Publisher
SOC NEUROSCIENCE
DOI: 10.1523/JNEUROSCI.2980-03.2004
Keywords
development; regeneration; retina; neurogenesis; progenitor; stem cell
Categories
Funding
- NEI NIH HHS [T32 EY 0703] Funding Source: Medline
- NIDCD NIH HHS [P30 DC004661, P30 DC04661] Funding Source: Medline
- PHS HHS [R01 28308] Funding Source: Medline
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The hedgehog signaling pathway is a key regulator of neural development, affecting both proliferation and differentiation of neural progenitors. Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is a mitogenic factor for retinal progenitors in vitro. To determine whether this signaling system is important in vivo for regulating retinal progenitor proliferation, we analyzed mice with a single functional allele of the Shh receptor patched (ptc). We found that ptc +/- mice had increased numbers of neural progenitors at every stage of retinal development that we examined. In addition, these mice had persistent progenitors at the retinal margin for up to 3 months of age, reminiscent of the ciliary marginal zone of lower vertebrates. To test whether the progenitors at the retinal margin of ptc +/- mice could be induced to regenerate retinal neurons in response to damage, we bred ptc +/- mice onto a retinal degeneration background (pro23his rhodopsin transgenic) and labeled newly generated cells with combined immunohistochemistry for bromodeoxyuridine and retinal neuron and photoreceptor-specific markers. We found newly generated neurons and photoreceptors at the retinal margin in ptc +/-; pro23his mice. We propose that the Shh pathway may act as a regulator of both prenatal and postnatal retinal growth.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available