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Published on: October 24, 2018
Extracellular Pax6 Regulates Tangential Cajal-Retzius Cell Migration in the Developing Mouse Neocortex
H Kaddour1,2,3,4, E Coppola2,3,4, A A Di Nardo1
1Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique Unité mixte de recherche 7241/Institut national de la santé et de la recherche médicale U1050, Paris Science Lettre University, Labex MemoLife, Collège de France, 11 place Marcelin Berthelot, Paris, France.
Abstract:
The embryonic mouse cortex displays a striking low caudo-medial and high rostro-lateral graded expression of the homeoprotein transcription factor Pax6, which presents both cell autonomous and direct noncell autonomous activities. Through the genetic induction of anti-Pax6 single-chain antibody secretion, we have analyzed Pax6 noncell autonomous activity on the migration of cortical hem- and septum-derived Cajal-Retzius (CR) neurons by live imaging of flat mount developing cerebral cortices. Blocking extracellular Pax6 disrupts tangential CR cell migration patterns by decreasing the distance traveled and changing both directionality and depth at which CR cells migrate. Tracking of single CR cells in mutant cortices revealed that extracellular Pax6 neutralization enhances contact repulsion in medial regions yet reduces it in lateral regions. This study demonstrates that secreted Pax6 controls neuronal migration and distribution and suggests that it acts as a bona fide morphogen at an early stage of cerebral cortex development.
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