Liu Yaobo, Fan Ming, Yu Shun, Zhou Yan, Wang Jiazheng, Yuan Jiangang, Qiang Boqin
Department of Neurobiology, Institute of Basic Medical Sciences, 27 Taiping Road, Beijing 100850, China.
Brain Res. 2002 Feb 22;928(1-2):147-55. doi: 10.1016/s0006-8993(01)03243-7.
LHX4 gene is a member of the LIM-homeobox gene family and plays a critical role in the development of motor neurons. We have isolated a cDNA of human LHX4 from a library of the adult human spinal cord. Its sequence is 92% homologous to that of the mouse Lhx4. The genomic structure of the LHX4 gene and its chromosomal localization were determined. The gene was mapped on human chromosome 1q 24.1-1q 24.3 and composed of six exons. The homeodomain was encoded by two exons, exons 4 and 5. The first LIM domain was coded by exon 2, and the second by exon 3. Human MTE Array was used to study the expression profile of LHX4 in 72 human tissues. The expression was specific in the CNS including the fetal brain, the spinal cord, and the cerebral cortex. In situ hybridization of the adult rodent CNS showed the abundant expression of LHX4 in the cerebral cortex and motor neurons of the spinal cord. Our results suggest that LHX4 may play a role in the CNS, especially the neocortex and the spinal cord, and provide a basis to investigate potential involvement of the LHX4 gene in human diseases.
LHX4基因是LIM-同源框基因家族的成员之一，在运动神经元的发育过程中发挥关键作用。我们从成人脊髓文库中分离出了人类LHX4的cDNA。其序列与小鼠Lhx4的序列同源性为92%。确定了LHX4基因的基因组结构及其染色体定位。该基因定位于人类染色体1q 24.1 - 1q 24.3，由六个外显子组成。同源结构域由外显子4和外显子5编码。第一个LIM结构域由外显子2编码，第二个由外显子3编码。利用人类MTE芯片研究了LHX4在72种人类组织中的表达谱。该基因在包括胎儿脑、脊髓和大脑皮层在内的中枢神经系统中特异性表达。对成年啮齿动物中枢神经系统的原位杂交显示，LHX4在大脑皮层和脊髓运动神经元中大量表达。我们的研究结果表明，LHX4可能在中枢神经系统，特别是新皮层和脊髓中发挥作用，并为研究LHX4基因在人类疾病中的潜在作用提供了依据。
