Stergiopoulos Athanasios, Elkouris Maximilianos, Politis Panagiotis K
Center for Basic Research, Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens Athens, Greece.
Front Cell Neurosci. 2015 Jan 26;8:454. doi: 10.3389/fncel.2014.00454. eCollection 2014.
Over the last decades, adult neurogenesis in the central nervous system (CNS) has emerged as a fundamental process underlying physiology and disease. Recent evidence indicates that the homeobox transcription factor Prox1 is a critical intrinsic regulator of neurogenesis in the embryonic CNS and adult dentate gyrus (DG) of the hippocampus, acting in multiple ways and instructed by extrinsic cues and intrinsic factors. In the embryonic CNS, Prox1 is mechanistically involved in the regulation of proliferation vs. differentiation decisions of neural stem cells (NSCs), promoting cell cycle exit and neuronal differentiation, while inhibiting astrogliogenesis. During the complex differentiation events in adult hippocampal neurogenesis, Prox1 is required for maintenance of intermediate progenitors (IPs), differentiation and maturation of glutamatergic interneurons, as well as specification of DG cell identity over CA3 pyramidal fate. The mechanism by which Prox1 exerts multiple functions involves distinct signaling pathways currently not fully highlighted. In this mini-review, we thoroughly discuss the Prox1-dependent phenotypes and molecular pathways in adult neurogenesis in relation to different upstream signaling cues and cell fate determinants. In addition, we discuss the possibility that Prox1 may act as a cross-talk point between diverse signaling cascades to achieve specific outcomes during adult neurogenesis.
在过去几十年中,中枢神经系统(CNS)中的成体神经发生已成为生理和疾病背后的一个基本过程。最近的证据表明,同源框转录因子Prox1是胚胎中枢神经系统和成年海马齿状回(DG)中神经发生的关键内在调节因子,它以多种方式发挥作用,并受外在信号和内在因素的指导。在胚胎中枢神经系统中,Prox1在机制上参与神经干细胞(NSC)增殖与分化决定的调节,促进细胞周期退出和神经元分化,同时抑制星形胶质细胞生成。在成年海马神经发生的复杂分化过程中,Prox1是维持中间祖细胞(IP)、谷氨酸能中间神经元的分化和成熟以及确定DG细胞身份而非CA3锥体命运所必需的。Prox1发挥多种功能的机制涉及目前尚未充分强调的不同信号通路。在本综述中,我们深入讨论了成年神经发生中与不同上游信号线索和细胞命运决定因素相关的Prox1依赖性表型和分子途径。此外,我们还讨论了Prox1可能作为不同信号级联之间的交互点,在成年神经发生过程中实现特定结果的可能性。