Maintenance of Motor Neuron Progenitors in Xenopus Requires a Novel Localized Cyclin

J-A Chen, S-T Chu and E. Amaya

EMBO Reports 8:287-292 (2007) Full Article (396K)

ABSTRACT

The ventral spinal cord contains a pool of motor neuron progenitors (pMNs), which sequentially generate motor neurons and oligodendrocytes

in the embryo. The mechanisms responsible for the maintenance of pMNs are not clearly understood. We have identified a novel cyclin,

cyclin Dx (ccndx), which is specifically expressed in pMNs in Xenopus . We show that inhibition of ccndx causes paralysis in embryos.

Furthermore, we show that maintenance of pMNs requires ccndx function. In addition, inhibition of ccndx results in the specific loss of

differentiated motor neurons. However, the expression of interneuron or sensory neuron markers is unaffected in these embryos, suggesting

that the role of ccndx is specifically to maintain pMNs. Thus we have identified, for the first time, a tissue specific cell cycle regulator, which

is essential for the maintenance of a pool of neural progenitors in the vertebrate spinal cord.

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