PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Ciqing Yang
AU  - Xiaoying Li
AU  - Qiuling Li
AU  - Qiong Li
AU  - Han Li
AU  - Bichao Zhang
AU  - Juntang Lin
TI  - The effect of sonic hedgehog on motor neuron positioning in the spinal cord during chicken embryo development
AID  - 10.1101/178491
DP  - 2017 Jan 01
TA  - bioRxiv
PG  - 178491
4099  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/19/178491.short
4100  - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/08/19/178491.full
AB  - Sonic hedgehog (Shh) is a vertebrate homologue of the secreted Drosophila protein hedgehog, and is expressed by the notochord and the floor plate in the developing spinal cord. Shh provides signals relevant for positional information, cell proliferation, and possibly cell survival depending on the time and location of the expression. Although the role of Shh in providing positional information in the neural tube has been experimentally proven, the exact underlying mechanism still remains unclear. In this study, we report that overexpression of Shh affects motor neuron positioning in the spinal cord during chicken embryo development by inducing abnormalities in the structure of the motor column and motor neuron integration. In addition, Shh overexpression inhibits the expression of dorsal transcription factors and commissural axon projections. Our results indicate that correct location of Shh expression is the key to the formation of the motor column. In conclusion, the overexpression of Shh in the spinal cord not only affects the positioning of motor neurons, but also induces abnormalities in the structure of the motor column.