Development and Engineering of Dopamine Neurons / Edition 1

by Jeroen Pasterkamp, Marten P. Smidt, J. Peter H. Burbach

Overview

Theneurotransmitter dopamine has just celebrated its 50thbirthday. The discovery of dopamine as a neuronal entity in the late 1950s and the notion that it serves in neurotransmission has been a milestone in the field of neuroscience research. This milestone marked the beginning of an era that explored the brain as an integrated collection of neuronal systems that one could distinguish on basis of neurotransm- ter identities, and importantly, in which one started to be able to pinpoint the seat of brain disease. The mesodiencephalic dopaminergic (mdDA) system, previously designated as midbraindopaminergic system, has received much attention since its discovery. The initial identification of dopamine as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS) and its relevance to psychiatric and neurological disorders have stimulated a plethora of neurochemical, pharmacological and genetic studies into the function of dopamine neurons and theirprojections. In the last decade, studies on gene expression and development have further increased the knowledge of this neuronal population and have unmasked a new level of complexity. The start of the molecular dissection of the mdDA system has been marked by the cloning and characterization ofNurrl and Pitx3. These transcription factors were shown to have a critical function during mdDA development. These initial studies have been followed by the identification of many other proteins, which have a crucial function in the creation of a dopamine neuron permissive region, induction of precursors, induction of terminaldifferent- tion and finally maintenance of the mdDA neuronal pool.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781441903211
Publisher:	Springer New York
Publication date:	06/04/2009
Series:	Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology , #561
Edition description:	2009
Pages:	127
Product dimensions:	6.70(w) x 10.20(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

R. Jeroen Pasterkamp is an Assistant Professor at the Rudolf Magnus

Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University

Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. The focus of his laboratory is

directed towards understanding the molecular and intracellular signaling events

involved in the formation of neuronal connections with a particular focus on the

developing dopamine system. His research team concentrates on the developing

mouse embryo using an integrated approach involving molecular biology, cell biology,

in vivo functional proteomics, and mouse genetics. He received his PhD from

the Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and

did his Postdoctoral at the Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University

School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.

Marten Smidt is an Associate Professor at the Rudolf Magnus Institute

of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University

Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. The focus of his laboratory is

directed towards understanding the developmental processes that underlie neuronal

differentiation and specification. The main focus has been the development of

mesodiencephalic dopamine neurons. The work includes mouse genetics, molecular

genetics and molecular biology. Marten Smidt received his PhD from the University

of Groningen (Groningen, The Netherlands) and did his postdoctoral at Utrecht

University, Department of Medical Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of

Neuroscience (Utrecht, The Netherlands).

J. Peter H. Burbach is professor of Molecular Neuroscience at Utrecht

University and head of the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Rudolf

Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The

Netherlands. His research interests concern the role of transcriptionfactors in development and regulation of peptidergic and dopaminergic neurons, and the molecular

mechanisms of human neurodevelopmental disorders. He received his PhD from

Utrecht University and did postdoctoral work at the Clinical Research Institute of

Montreal, Canada. He obtained professorships in Molecular Biology and Molecular

Neuroendocrinology. Since 2001 he is a Summer scientist at the Marine Biological

Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA.

Table of Contents

Development of the Dopamine Systems in Zebrafish.- Dopamine Systems in the Forebrain.- The Role of Otx Genes in Progenitor Domains of Ventral Midbrain.- Terminal Differentiation of Mesodiencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons:.- Foxa1 and Foxa2 Transcription Factors Regulate Differentiation of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons.- Transcriptional Regulation of Their Survival:.- Neurotrophic Support of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons.- TGF-β in Dopamine Neuron Development, Maintenance and Neuroprotection.- Axon Guidance in the Dopamine System.- Prools for Generating ES Cell-Derived Dopamine Neurons.- Molecular and Cellular Determinants for Generating ES-Cell Derived Dopamine Neurons for Cell Therapy.