Department of Molecular Medicine, University of Oslo, Oslo 0372, Norway.
Department of Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusettes 02115.
eNeuro. 2019 Feb 27;6(1). doi: 10.1523/ENEURO.0475-18.2019. eCollection 2019 Jan-Feb.
Vestibulospinal neurons are organized into discrete groups projecting from brainstem to spinal cord, enabling vertebrates to maintain proper balance and posture. The two largest groups are the lateral vestibulospinal tract (LVST) group and the contralateral medial vestibulospinal tract (cMVST) group, with different projection lateralities and functional roles. In search of a molecular basis for these differences, we performed RNA sequencing on LVST and cMVST neurons from mouse and chicken embryos followed by immunohistofluorescence validation. Focusing on transcription factor (TF)-encoding genes, we identified TF signatures that uniquely distinguish the LVST from the cMVST group and further parse different rhombomere-derived portions comprising the cMVST group. Immunohistofluorescence assessment of the CNS from spinal cord to cortex demonstrated that these TF signatures are restricted to the respective vestibulospinal groups and some neurons in their immediate vicinity. Collectively, these results link the combinatorial expression of TFs to developmental and functional subdivisions within the vestibulospinal system.
前庭脊髓神经元组织成离散的群组，从脑干投射到脊髓，使脊椎动物能够保持适当的平衡和姿势。两个最大的群组是外侧前庭脊髓束 (LVST) 群组和对侧内侧前庭脊髓束 (cMVST) 群组，具有不同的投射侧和功能作用。为了寻找这些差异的分子基础，我们对来自小鼠和鸡胚胎的 LVST 和 cMVST 神经元进行了 RNA 测序，随后进行了免疫荧光验证。我们专注于转录因子 (TF) 编码基因，确定了唯一区分 LVST 和 cMVST 群组的 TF 特征，并进一步解析了构成 cMVST 群组的不同菱脑衍生部分。对来自脊髓到皮层的中枢神经系统进行免疫荧光评估表明，这些 TF 特征仅限于相应的前庭脊髓群组及其附近的一些神经元。总的来说，这些结果将 TF 的组合表达与前庭脊髓系统内的发育和功能细分联系起来。
