A multiphasic role for Pax7 in tectal development
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Updated: Aug 13, 2026

Three and Four-Dimensional Visualization and Analysis Approaches to Study Vertebrate Axial Elongation and Segmentation
Published on: February 28, 2021
Meghan Thomas1, Lyn Beazley, Melanie Ziman
1School of Animal Biology, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.
Abstract:
The optic tectum differentiates from the mesencephalic alar plate and matures into a characteristically laminated structure. Evidence presented here suggests a role for Pax7 in all stages of development of tectal architecture, from regionalisation to specification of neurons and tectal topography. Analysis of Pax7 expression profiles over a range of developmental stages (E2-E12) suggests a biphasic role for Pax7: initially Pax7 expressing cells in the proliferative neuroepithelial layer establish tectal polarity whereas later Pax7 is expressed in neurons of the retino-recipient precursor stratum griseum et fibrosum superficiale (sgfs) laminae where graded levels may establish tectal topography. Furthermore, co-localisation immunofluorescence confirmed that Pax7 is initially expressed in the majority of proliferative neuroepithelial cells and later in a subset of neurons of the sgfs laminae.
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