A gene with sequence similarity to Drosophila engrailed is expressed during the development of the neural tube and vertebrae in the mouse

Abstract

The mouse genes En-1 and En-2 display sequence similarity, in and around the homeobox region, to the engrailed family in Drosophila. This paper describes their pattern of expression in the 12.5-day mouse embryo as determined by in situ hybridization. En-2 is expressed in a subset of cells expressing En-1. Both genes are expressed in the developing midbrain and its junction with the hindbrain. In addition, En-1 is expressed in the floor of the hindbrain, a restricted ventrolateral segment of the neural tube throughout the trunk and anterior part of the tail, the dermatome of tail somites, the centrum and costal processes in developing vertebrae, a restricted region of facial mesenchyme and the limb-bud ectoderm. Supplementary studies of 9.5-day and 10.5-day embryos showed that the same pattern of expression pertained in the neural tube, but that expression in the somites is at first confined to the dermatome and later found at a low level in restricted sclerotomal regions. Both genes are expressed in restricted domains which do not cross tissue-type boundaries. In several instances, however, boundaries of expression lie within morphologically undifferentiated tissue. These results suggest that En-1 and En-2 may be involved in the establishment or maintenance of the spatial integrity of specific domains within developing tissues.

Impaired motor learning performance in cerebellar En-2 mutant mice.

“…coexpressed in cells spanning the junction between mid-and hind-brain from the 8 somite stage (Davidson, Graham, Sime, & Hill, 1988;Davis, Noble-Topham, Rossant, & Joyner, 1988;Njolstad & Fjose, 1988;Patel et al, 1989). In the adult mouse, En-1 and En-2 expression becomes limited to specific neuronal groups including motor nuclei in the pons region and cells in substantia nigra (Davis, ct al., 1988;).…”

“…In Drosophila, the En gene functions in embryonic segmentation and later development of the nervous system (Garcia-Bellido & Santamaria, 1972; Kornberg, 1981; Lawrence & Johnson, 1984; Lawrence & Morata, 1976; Lawrence & Struhl, 1982). The murine engrailed genes, En-1 and En-2, are coexpressed in cells spanning the junction between mid-and hind-brain from the 8 somite stage (Davidson, Graham, Sime, & Hill, 1988; Davis & Joyner, 1988; Davis, Noble-Topham, Rossant, & Joyner, 1988; Njolstad & Fjose, 1988; Patel et al, 1989). In the adult mouse, En-1 and En-2 expression becomes limited to specific neuronal groups including motor nuclei in the pons region and cells in substantia nigra (Davis et al, 1988; Davis & Joyner, 1988).…”

Engrailed‐1 Promotes Pancreatic Cancer Metastasis

“…EN1 is an essential gene during embryonic development and its expression in the neuroepithelium is required to form midbrain and hindbrain. [58] Within the adult central nervous systems, the mesodiencephalic dopaminergic neurons constitutively utilize EN1 to maintain the cellular identity, survival, outgrowth, and pathfinding. [59][60][61][62][63] A line of evidence appears to point out that PDA exhibits neurodevelopment-related programs, such as axon guidance pathways, for their survival and tumorigenicity, [11] while cancer cells generally utilize transcriptional programs associated with the cell-lineage for survival.…”

An Update on the Molecular Mechanism of the Vertebrate Isthmic Organizer Development in the Context of the Neuromeric Model

“…The Drosophila engrailed gene is essential for accurate embryonic segmentation and neurogenesis in the developing insects, its conserved sequence and biochemical function being identified in a high number of organisms throughout the animal kingdom. The members of the homeobox-containing gene En family ( En1 and En2 ), homologs to the Drosophila engrailed gene (Joyner et al, 1985 ; Joyner and Martin, 1987 ), is the first gene whose expression pattern was described in the developing MH domain of all analyzed vertebrate embryos, both genes showing a similar expression pattern (Davidson et al, 1988 ; Davis and Joyner, 1988 ; Gardner et al, 1988 ; Patel et al, 1989 ; Davis et al, 1991 ; Hemmati-Brivanlou et al, 1991 ; Ekker et al, 1992 ; Logan et al, 1992 ). Focused on chick embryos, En2 expression starts to be observed at stage HH9 ( Figure 4A ), its high expression levels being coincident with the prospective cerebellar anlagen (Martinez and Alvarado-Mallart, 1989 ).…”