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Cerebral Cortex 2006 16(Supplement 1):i74-i81; doi:10.1093/cercor/bhj169
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© The Author 2006. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org The online version of this article has been published under an open access model. Users are entitled to use, reproduce, disseminate, or display the open access version of this article for non-commercial purposes provided that: the original authorship is properly and fully attributed; the Journal and Oxford University Press are attributed as the original place of publication with the correct citation details given; if an article is subsequently reproduced or disseminated not in its entirety but only in part or as a derivative work this must be clearly indicated. For commercial re-use, please contact journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org.

Environmental Signals Elicit Multiple Responses in Dorsal Telencephalic Progenitors by Threshold-Dependent Mechanisms

Laura Lillien and Alexandra Gulacsi1

Department of Neurobiology and Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA, 1 Current address: Department of Psychiatry, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, New York, NY 10021, USA

Address correspondence to Laura Lillien, Department of Neurobiology and Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, W1454 Biomedical Science Tower, Pittsburgh, PA 15261, USA. Email: lillien{at}pitt.edu.

Environmental signals including epidermal growth factor family members, Shh, fibroblast growth factor, and bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) can affect multiple processes during the development of the central nervous system, raising questions about the mechanisms that determine how these pleiotropic signals are interpreted to elicit appropriate responses at specific times and locations. Here we address the idea that different thresholds of stimulation determine how progenitors in the dorsal telencephalon interpret these signals. One mechanism for achieving different thresholds of signaling is illustrated by the developmental increase in the level of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) expression among a subset of progenitors in the late embryonic telencephalon. Another mechanism is illustrated by the antagonistic interaction of BMP with Shh, which can influence EGFR expression and neuron subtype choice. We focus on the similarities and differences in the control of these responses and address the possibility that the {gamma}-aminobutyric acidergic neuron specification might be linked to progenitor expression of a higher level of EGFRs.

Key Words: astrocyte • bone morphogenetic protein • epidermal growth factor receptor • GABA • sonic hedgehog • stem cell


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