Transcription factor Nurr1 maintains fiber integrity and nuclear-encoded mitochondrial gene expression in dopamine neurons.

ABSTRACT: Developmental transcription factors important in early neuron specification and differentiation often remain expressed in the adult brain. However, how these transcription factors function to mantain appropriate neuronal identities in adult neurons and how transcription factor dysregulation may contribute to disease remain largely unknown. The transcription factor Nurr1 has been associated with Parkinson's disease and is essential for the development of ventral midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons. We used conditional Nurr1 gene-targeted mice in which Nurr1 is ablated selectively in mature DA neurons by treatment with tamoxifen. We show that Nurr1 ablation results in a progressive pathology associated with reduced striatal DA, impaired motor behaviors, and dystrophic axons and dendrites. We used

SUBMITTER: Kadkhodaei B 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3568335 | biostudies-literature | 2013 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature