Browsing by Author "Bodington Celma, Silvana"

In the central nervous system, GABAergic neurons serve as the primary source of inhibitory signals. The study focuses on the GABAergic neurons located in the anterior brainstem, which play a pivotal role in modulating monoaminergic circuits critical for mood, motivation, and movement regulation. The development of the anterior brainstem GABAergic neurons relies on the activation of the Tal1 transcription factor (TF) in the neuronal precursors located in the ventrolateral part of rhombomere 1 (rV2 progenitor domain). The aim of the study was to investigate the regulatory mechanisms governing Tal1 expression. Specifically, the co-expression of potential upstream regulators of Tal1 in differentiating GABAergic rV2 neurons was validated using RNAscope® In Situ Hybridization. Findings demonstrated that the early post-mitotic TFs Sox4, Insm1, Ebf1, and E2f1 are not only co-expressed with Tal1 but also precede the activation of Tal1 expression. This supports a potential role for these genes in activating Tal1 expression and therefore influencing the acquisition of the GABAergic identity in the neuronal progenitors of the anterior brainstem. This research contributes to the understanding of the development and differentiation of the anterior brainstem GABAergic neurons.