期刊名称:Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences
印刷版ISSN:0027-8424
电子版ISSN:1091-6490
出版年度:1996
卷号:93
期号:9
页码:3920-3925
DOI:10.1073/pnas.93.9.3920
语种:English
出版社:The National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
摘要:The three members of the Brn-3 family of POU domain transcription factors are found in highly restricted sets of central nervous system neurons. Within the retina, these factors are present only within subsets of ganglion cells. We show here that in the developing mouse retina, Brn-3b protein is first observed in presumptive ganglion cell precursors as they begin to migrate from the zone of dividing neuroblasts to the future ganglion cell layer, and that targeted disruption of the Brn-3b gene leads in the homozygous state to a selective loss of 70% of retinal ganglion cells. In Brn-3b (-/-) mice other neurons within the retina and brain are minimally or not at all affected. These experiments indicate that Brn-3b plays an essential role in the development of specific ganglion cell types.