The Homeodomain Transcription Factor NKX2.1 Is Essential for the Early Specification of Melanocortin Neuron Identity and ActivatesPomcExpression in the Developing Hypothalamus
| Autor: | Sofia Nasif, Daniela Paula Orquera, Flavio S. J. de Souza, Marcelo Rubinstein, M. Belén Tavella, Malcolm J. Low |
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| Rok vydání: | 2019 |
| Předmět: |
0301 basic medicine
endocrine system BODY WEIGHT REGULATION Neuropeptide Biology MELANOCORTINS purl.org/becyt/ford/1 [https] Ciencias Biológicas 03 medical and health sciences 0302 clinical medicine Arcuate nucleus medicine TRANSCRIPTION FACTOR CONDITIONAL MUTANT MICE purl.org/becyt/ford/1.6 [https] Enhancer Transcription factor Melanocortins NEURON-SPECIFIC EXPRESSION General Neuroscience Biología del Desarrollo digestive oral and skin physiology Bioquímica y Biología Molecular Cell biology 030104 developmental biology medicine.anatomical_structure nervous system Hypothalamus Neuron Melanocortin CIENCIAS NATURALES Y EXACTAS hormones hormone substitutes and hormone antagonists 030217 neurology & neurosurgery |
| Zdroj: | CONICET Digital (CONICET) Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas instacron:CONICET |
| ISSN: | 1529-2401 0270-6474 |
| Popis: | Food intake is tightly regulated by a group of neurons present in the arcuate nucleus of the hypothalamus, which release Pomc-encoded melanocortins, the absence of which induces marked hyperphagia and early-onset obesity. Although the relevance of hypothalamic POMCneurons in the regulation of body weight and energy balance is well appreciated, little is known about the transcription factors that establish the melanocortin neuron identity during brain development and its phenotypic maintenance in postnatal life. Here, we report that the transcription factor NKX2.1 is present in mouse hypothalamic POMC neurons from early development to adulthood. Electromobility shift assays showed that NKX2.1 binds in vitro to NKX binding motifs present in the neuronal Pomc enhancers nPE1 and nPE2 and chromatin immunoprecipitation assays detected in vivo binding of NKX2.1 to nPE1 and nPE2 in mouse hypothalamic extracts. Transgenic and mutant studies performed in mouse embryos of either sex and adult males showed that the NKX motifs present in nPE1 and nPE2 are essential for their transcriptional enhancer activity. The conditional early inactivation of Nkx2.1 in the ventral hypothalamus prevented the onset of Pomc expression. Selective Nkx2.1 ablation from POMC neurons decreased Pomc expression in adult males and mildly increased their body weight and adiposity. Our results demonstrate that NKX2.1 is necessary to activate Pomc expression by binding to conserved canonical NKX motifs present in nPE1 and nPE2. Therefore, NKX2.1 plays a critical role in the early establishment of hypothalamic melanocortin neuron identity and participates in the maintenance of Pomc expression levels during adulthood. Fil: Orquera, Daniela Paula. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina Fil: Tavella, Maria Belen. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina Fil: Silva Junqueira de Souza, Flavio. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular; Argentina. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Neurociencias; Argentina Fil: Nasif, Sofia. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina Fil: Low, Malcolm J.. Michigan State University; Estados Unidos Fil: Rubinstein, Marcelo. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Instituto de Investigaciones en Ingeniería Genética y Biología Molecular "Dr. Héctor N. Torres"; Argentina. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Departamento de Fisiología, Biología Molecular y Celular; Argentina. Michigan State University; Estados Unidos |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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