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Updated: Jul 5, 2026

Primary Culture of Mouse Dopaminergic Neurons
Published on: September 8, 2014
Isthmus organizer for mesencephalon and metencephalon
Harukazu Nakamura1, Tatsuya Sato, Asuka Suzuki-Hirano
1Department of Molecular Neurobiology, Graduate School of Life Sciences, and Institute of Development, Aging and Cancer, Tohoku University, Seiryo-machi 4-1, Aoba-ku, Sendai 980-8575, Japan. nakamura@idac.tohoku.ac.jp
Abstract:
The vertebrate central nervous system is elaborated from a simple neural tube. Brain vesicles formation is the first sign of regionalization. Classical transplantation using quail and chick embryos revealed that the mesencephalon-metencephalon boundary (isthmus) functions as an organizer of the mesencephalon and metencephalon. Fgf8 is accepted as a main organizing molecule of the isthmus. Strong Fgf8 signal activates the Ras-ERK signaling pathway to differentiate the cerebellum. In this review, the historical background of the means of identifying the isthmus organizer and the molecular mechanisms of signal transduction for tectum and cerebellum differentiation is reviewed.
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