Functionally Related Motor Neuron Pool and Muscle Sensory Afferent Subtypes Defined by Coordinate ETS Gene Expression

• Published in: Cell 1998-10, Vol.95 (3), p.393-407
• Main Authors: Lin, Jonathan H, Saito, Tetsuichiro, Anderson, David J, Lance-Jones, Cynthia, Jessell, Thomas M, Arber, Silvia
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Animals; Cell Movement; Chick Embryo; DNA-Binding Proteins - genetics; DNA-Binding Proteins - metabolism; ETS Translocation Variant 6 Protein; Extremities - embryology; Extremities - innervation; Ganglia, Spinal - metabolism; Gene Expression Regulation, Developmental; Homeodomain Proteins - metabolism; Mesoderm - metabolism; Molecular Sequence Data; Motor Neurons - cytology; Motor Neurons - metabolism; Muscle, Skeletal - embryology; Muscle, Skeletal - innervation; Muscle, Skeletal - metabolism; Neurons, Afferent - cytology; Neurons, Afferent - metabolism; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - genetics; Proto-Oncogene Proteins - metabolism; Proto-Oncogene Proteins c-ets; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - genetics; Receptor Protein-Tyrosine Kinases - metabolism; Receptor, trkA - genetics; Receptor, trkA - metabolism; Receptor, trkC; Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor - genetics; Receptors, Nerve Growth Factor - metabolism; Repressor Proteins; Signal Transduction; Spinal Cord - embryology; Spinal Cord - metabolism; Transcription Factors - genetics; Transcription Factors - metabolism
• ISSN: 0092-8674; 1097-4172
• DOI: 10.1016/S0092-8674(00)81770-5

Motor function depends on the formation of selective connections between sensory and motor neurons and their muscle targets. The molecular basis of the specificity inherent in this sensory-motor circuit remains unclear. We show that motor neuron pools and subsets of muscle sensory afferents can be defined by the expression of ETS genes, notably PEA3 and ER81. There is a matching in PEA3 and ER81 expression by functionally interconnected sensory and motor neurons. ETS gene expression by motor and sensory neurons fails to occur after limb ablation, suggesting that their expression is coordinated by signals from the periphery. ETS genes may therefore participate in the development of selective sensory-motor circuits in the spinal cord.