NG2-expressing cells (NG2 cells or polydendrocytes) generate oligodendrocytes throughout the CNS and a subpopulation of protoplasmic astrocytes in the gray matter of the ventral forebrain. The mechanisms that regulate their oligodendrocyte or astrocyte fate and the degree to which they exhibit lineage plasticity in vivo have remained unclear. The basic helix-loop-helix transcription factor Olig...

The paired-like homeobox gene expressed in embryonic stem cells Hesx1/HESX1 encodes a developmental repressor and is expressed in early development in a region fated to form the forebrain, with subsequent localization to Rathke's pouch, the primordium of the anterior pituitary gland. Mutations within the gene have been associated with septo-optic dysplasia, a constellation of phenotypes includi...

Studies on expression and function of key developmental control genes suggest that the embryonic vertebrate brain has a tripartite ground plan that consists of a forebrain/midbrain, a hindbrain and an intervening midbrain/hindbrain boundary region, which are characterized by the specific expression of the Otx, Hox and Pax2/5/8 genes, respectively. We show that the embryonic brain of the fruitfl...

The expression of the Dlx homeobox genes is closely associated with neurons that express gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA) in the embryonic rostral forebrain. To test whether the Dlx genes are sufficient to induce some aspects of the phenotype of GABAergic neurons, we adapted the electroporation method to ectopically express DLX proteins in slice cultures of the mouse embryonic cerebral cortex. Th...

Periventricular germinal zones (GZs) of developing and adult brain contain neural stem cells (NSCs), the cellular identities and origins of which are not defined completely. We used tissue culture techniques and transgenic mice expressing herpes simplex virus thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) from the mouse glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP) promoter to test the hypothesis that certain NSCs express G...