Journal
DEVELOPMENTAL DYNAMICS
Volume 242, Issue 12, Pages 1348-1368Publisher
WILEY
DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.24055
Keywords
Hox genes; sensorimotor circuits; rhombomers; spinal cord; neuronal differentiation, axon pathfinding, neuronal migration
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Funding
- Agence Nationale Recherche (ANR Chaire d'Excellence) [R09125AA]
- Telethon Foundation, Italy [TGM06AO3]
- Norwegian Research Council
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Homeobox (Hox) genes were originally discovered in the fruit fly Drosophila, where they function through a conserved homeodomain as transcriptional regulators to control embryonic morphogenesis. In vertebrates, 39 Hox genes have been identified and like their Drosophila counterparts they are organized within chromosomal clusters. Hox genes interact with various cofactors, such as the TALE homeodomain proteins, in recognition of consensus sequences within regulatory elements of their target genes. In vertebrates, Hox genes display spatially restricted patterns of expression within the developing hindbrain and spinal cord, and are considered crucial determinants of segmental identity and cell specification along the anterioposterior and dorsoventral axes of the embryo. Here, we review their later roles in the assembly of neuronal circuitry, in stereotypic neuronal migration, axon pathfinding, and topographic connectivity. Importantly, we will put some emphasis on how their early-segmented expression patterns can influence the formation of complex vital hindbrain and spinal cord circuitries. (C) 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
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