Ascl1/Mash1 is required for the development of central serotonergic neurons

The transcriptional control of the differentiation of central serotonergic (5-HT) neurons in vertebrates has recently come under scrutiny and has been shown to involve the homeobox genes Nkx2-2 and Lmx1b, the Ets-domain gene Pet1 (also known as Fev) and the zinc-finger gene Gata3. The basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) gene Ascl1 (also known as Mash1) is coexpressed with Nkx2-2 in the neuroepithelial domain of the hindbrain, which gives rise to 5-HT neurons. Here we show in the mouse that Ascl1 is essential for the birth of 5-HT neurons, both as a proneural gene for the production of postmitotic neuronal precursors and as a determinant of the serotonergic phenotype for the parallel activation of Gata3, Lmx1b and Pet1. Thus Ascl1, which is essential for noradrenergic differentiation, is also a determinant of the serotonergic phenotype.