Identification by Differential RT-PCR of a Novel Paired Homeodomain Protein Specifically Expressed in Sensory Neurons and a Subset of Their CNS Targets

• Published in: Molecular and cellular neuroscience Vol. 6; no. 3; pp. 280 - 292
• Main Authors: Saito, Tetsuichiro, Greenwood, Amy, Sun, Qi, Anderson, David J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: United States Elsevier Inc 01.06.1995
• Subjects: Animals; Antibodies - immunology; Base Sequence; Blotting, Southern; Central Nervous System - physiology; Cloning, Molecular; DNA, Complementary; Female; Gene Expression - genetics; In Situ Hybridization; Mammalia; Molecular Sequence Data; Neurons, Afferent - physiology; Polymerase Chain Reaction; Proteins - genetics; Rats; Rats, Sprague-Dawley; Transcription Factors - genetics
• ISSN: 1044-7431; 1095-9327
• DOI: 10.1006/mcne.1995.1022

Sensory neurons are a major derivative of the neural crest for which there have been no definitive molecular markers in mammals. We have developed a method that combines differential hybridization with degenerate RT-PCR to rapidly screen gene families for members exhibiting differential expression among tissues or cell types. We used this approach to search for transcription factor-encoding genes specifically expressed in mammalian sensory neurons. A novel paired homeodomain protein, called DRG11, was identified. DRG11 is expressed in most sensory neurons, including trkA-expressing neurons, but not in glia or sympathetic neurons. Unexpectedly, it is also expressed in the dorsal horn of the spinal cord, a region to which NGF-dependent sensory neurons project. These data suggest that DRG11 is not only a useful marker for sensory neurons, but may also function in the establishment or maintenance of connectivity between some of these neurons and their central nervous system targets.