Abstract
Vertebrate development culminates in the generation of proper proportions of a large variety of different cell types and subtypes essential for tissue, organ and system functions in the right place at the right time. Foxn4, a member of the forkhead box/winged-helix transcription factor superfamily, is expressed in mitotic progenitors and/or postmitotic precursors in both neural (e.g., retina and spinal cord) and non-neural tissues (e.g., atrioventricular canal and proximal airway). During development of the central nervous system, Foxn4 is required to specify the amacrine and horizontal cell fates from multipotent retinal progenitors while suppressing the alternative photoreceptor cell fates through activating Dll4-Notch signaling. Moreover, it activates Dll4-Notch signaling to drive commitment of p2 progenitors to the V2b and V2c interneuron fates during spinal cord neurogenesis. In development of non-neural tissues, Foxn4 plays an essential role in the specification of the atrioventricular canal and is indirectly required for patterning the distal airway during lung development. In this review, we highlight current understanding of the structure, expression and developmental functions of Foxn4 with an emphasis on its cell-autonomous and non-cell-autonomous roles in different tissues and animal model systems.
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Biographical Sketch Dr. Xiang MengQing is a Professor at the Center for Advanced Biotechnology and Medicine and Department of Pediatrics, Rutgers University-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School. He received his B.S. degree in plant genetics from Sun Yat-sen University of China in 1985. As a CUSBEA fellow of Class V (1986), he earned his Ph.D. degree in molecular biology and biochemistry from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, in 1991. Before joining Rutgers University as an Assistant Professor in 1996, Dr. Xiang conducted his postdoctoral studies at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2002 and full Professor in 2006, and in 2012, selected into the Program of Global Experts. His research interests center on understanding the molecular mechanisms and regulatory gene networks that govern the determination, differentiation and survival of sensory neurons and cells. Dr. Xiang has received a number of professional awards including the Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award, Sinsheimer Scholar Award, and the Wolf, Block, Schorr and Solis-Cohen, LLP Award in auditory science.
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Xiang, M., Li, S. Foxn4: A multi-faceted transcriptional regulator of cell fates in vertebrate development. Sci. China Life Sci. 56, 985–993 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-013-4543-8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11427-013-4543-8