Otx2 promotes granule cell precursor proliferation and Shh-dependent medulloblastoma maintenance in vivo.

ABSTRACT: The developmental gene OTX2 is expressed by cerebellar granule cell precursors (GCPs), a cell population which undergoes massive expansion during the early postnatal period in response to sonic hedgehog (Shh). GCPs are thought to be at the origin of most medulloblastomas, a devastating paediatric cancer that arises in the developing cerebellum. OTX2 is overexpressed in all types of medulloblastomas, except in Shh-dependent type 2 medulloblastomas, although it has GCPs as cell-of-origin. This has led to the current view that OTX2 is not involved in tumorigenesis of this subgroup. How OTX2 might contribute to normal or tumoral GCP development in vivo remains unresolved. Here, we have investigated, for the first time, the physiological function of this factor in regulating proliferation and t

SUBMITTER: El Nagar S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6087714 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature