Neurosci Lett 2009 Dec 11;4663:131-4. doi: 10.1016/j.neulet.2009.09.042.

Zebrafish CiA interneurons are late-born primary neurons.

???displayArticle.abstract???
Pax2 is a neural-related transcription factor downstream of Notch signaling and is expressed in the developing spinal cord of zebrafish, including in CiA interneurons. However, the characteristics of pax2-positive neurons are largely unknown. The goal of this study was to characterize Pax2-positive neurons by examining their expression in embryos in which Notch function had been knocked down by mutation or injection of a morpholino or mRNA. I found that Pax2-positive CiA interneurons were late-differentiating primary neurons. pax2.1 was expressed in CoPA commissural neurons and CiA interneurons at 26 hpf. The number of pax2.1-positive cells increased in mind bomb mutant embryos or embryos injected with Su(H)1-MO, but not in cells injected with Xenopus Delta or Delta(stu) mRNA. These observations imply that Notch signaling plays a role in regulating the number of CiA neurons by preventing uncommitted precursors from acquiring a neuronal fate during vertebrate development.

???displayArticle.pubmedLink??? 19800937
???displayArticle.link??? Neurosci Lett


Species referenced: Xenopus
Genes referenced: copa ncoa5 notch1 pax2 wwc2