Kullander Klas, Butt Simon J B, Lebret James M, Lundfald Line, Restrepo Carlos E, Rydström Anna, Klein Rudiger, Kiehn Ole
Department of Medical Biochemistry, Gothenburg University, Medicinaregatan 9 A, 405 30 Gothenburg, Sweden.
Science. 2003 Mar 21;299(5614):1889-92. doi: 10.1126/science.1079641.
Local circuits in the spinal cord that generate locomotion are termed central pattern generators (CPGs). These provide coordinated bilateral control over the normal limb alternation that underlies walking. The molecules that organize the mammalian CPG are unknown. Isolated spinal cords from mice lacking either the EphA4 receptor or its ligand ephrinB3 have lost left-right limb alternation and instead exhibit synchrony. We identified EphA4-positive neurons as an excitatory component of the locomotor CPG. Our study shows that dramatic locomotor changes can occur as a consequence of local genetic rewiring and identifies genes required for the development of normal locomotor behavior.
脊髓中产生运动的局部回路被称为中枢模式发生器（CPG）。它们对行走所依赖的正常肢体交替提供协调的双侧控制。组织哺乳动物CPG的分子尚不清楚。来自缺乏EphA4受体或其配体ephrinB3的小鼠的离体脊髓已经失去了左右肢体交替，取而代之的是表现出同步性。我们将EphA4阳性神经元鉴定为运动CPG的一个兴奋性成分。我们的研究表明，局部基因重排可能导致显著的运动变化，并确定了正常运动行为发育所需的基因。
