1. Molecular codes for cell type specification in Brn3 retinal ganglion cells
- Author
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Octavian Popescu, Katherine Chuang, Tudor C. Badea, Miruna Georgiana Ghinia, Friedrich Kretschmer, Matthew Brooks, Szilard Sajgo, Zhijian Wu, and Suja Hiriyanna
- Subjects
Male ,Retinal Ganglion Cells ,0301 basic medicine ,Cell type ,genetic structures ,Upstream and downstream (transduction) ,Synaptogenesis ,Dendrite ,Cell Communication ,Biology ,Retinal ganglion ,Transcriptome ,Mice ,03 medical and health sciences ,medicine ,Animals ,Transcription factor ,Multidisciplinary ,Gene Expression Profiling ,Brain ,High-Throughput Nucleotide Sequencing ,Membrane Proteins ,eye diseases ,Axon Guidance ,Transcription Factor Brn-3 ,030104 developmental biology ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,PNAS Plus ,Female ,Axon guidance ,sense organs ,Neuroscience - Abstract
Visual information is conveyed from the eye to the brain by distinct types of retinal ganglion cells (RGCs). It is largely unknown how RGCs acquire their defining morphological and physiological features and connect to upstream and downstream synaptic partners. The three Brn3/Pou4f transcription factors (TFs) participate in a combinatorial code for RGC type specification, but their exact molecular roles are still unclear. We use deep sequencing to define (i) transcriptomes of Brn3a- and/or Brn3b-positive RGCs, (ii) Brn3a- and/or Brn3b-dependent RGC transcripts, and (iii) transcriptomes of retinorecipient areas of the brain at developmental stages relevant for axon guidance, dendrite formation, and synaptogenesis. We reveal a combinatorial code of TFs, cell surface molecules, and determinants of neuronal morphology that is differentially expressed in specific RGC populations and selectively regulated by Brn3a and/or Brn3b. This comprehensive molecular code provides a basis for understanding neuronal cell type specification in RGCs.
- Published
- 2017
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