Cellular and Molecular Neurobiology
Author: Solana Florencia Lopez | Email: slopez@leloir.org.ar
Solana F. López1°, Antonella S. Ríos1°, Gustavo G. Paratcha2°, Fernanda Ledda1°
1° Fundación Instituto Leloir, Instituto de Investigaciones de Buenos Aires (IIBBA)-CONICET
2° Instituto de Biología Celular y Neurociencias (IBCN)-CONICET-UBA
The mammalian cerebral cortex comprises diverse areas involved in the control of elaborated behaviors including complex movement, decision-making, and language. Cortical development follows an organized generation of neurons and glial cells from local neural stem cells (NSCs) which is strictly regulated to ensure proper functionality. Different subtypes of excitatory cortical projection neurons are born in overlapping temporal waves from local NSCs to generate defined cortical layers establishing the six-layered structure of the mature neocortex with layers VI and V generated first, followed by layers IV, III and II, while interneurons generated from NSCs of the ventral telencephalon migrate tangentially to populate the dorsal cortical structure. The precise control of this process is necessary. Alterations in any phase of it may cause nervous system disorders such as cerebral malformations or psychiatric diseases.
In this work, we characterize the expression pattern of the Pea3 transcription factor, Etv5, during the cerebral cortex development. Etv5 is a transcription factor from the ETS superfamily, which has been described to be involved in proliferation and differentiation depending on the cellular context. Here we show that Etv5 is expressed at mid-stages of embryonic glutamatergic neocortical development in proliferating NSCs, neural progenitors as well as in postmitotic neurons. In this study we also analyze the consequences of Etv5 abrogation in cortical development.