Lhx2 Determines Odorant Receptor Expression Frequency in Mature Olfactory Sensory Neurons.

ABSTRACT: A developmental program of epigenetic repression prepares each mammalian olfactory sensory neuron (OSN) to strongly express one allele from just one of hundreds of odorant receptor (OR) genes, but what completes this process of OR gene choice by driving the expression of this allele is incompletely understood. Conditional deletion experiments in mice demonstrate that Lhx2 is necessary for normal expression frequencies of nearly all ORs and all trace amine-associated receptors, irrespective of whether the deletion of Lhx2 is initiated in immature or mature OSNs. Given previous evidence that Lhx2 binds OR gene control elements, these findings indicate that Lhx2 is directly involved in driving OR expression. The data also support the conclusion that OR expression is necessary to allow

SUBMITTER: Zhang G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5086798 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Sep-Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature