The basic helix-loop-helix factor Hand2 regulates autonomic nervous system development

✍ Scribed by Yuka Morikawa; Yan-Shan Dai; Jianming Hao; Christopher Bonin; Sunny Hwang; Peter Cserjesi

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2005
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 375 KB
• Volume: 234
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 1058-8388
• DOI: 10.1002/dvdy.20544

✦ Synopsis

Abstract

Mammalian autonomic nervous system (ANS) development requires the combinatorial action of a number of transcription factors, which include Mash1, Phox2b, and GATA3. Here we show that the bHLH transcription factor, Hand2 (dHAND), is expressed concurrently with Mash1 during sympathetic nervous system (SNS) development and that the expression of Hand2 is not dependent on Mash1. This suggests that these two bHLH factors work in parallel during SNS development. We also show that ectopic expression of Hand2 activates the neuronal program and promotes the acquisition of a phenotype corresponding to peripheral neurons including neurons of the SNS lineage in P19 embryonic carcinoma cells. We propose that Hand2 works in parallel with other members of the transcriptional network to regulate ANS developmental but can ectopically activate the program by a cross‐regulatory mechanism that includes the activation of Mash1. We show that this function is dependent on its interaction with the histone acetyltransferase p300/CBP, indicating that Hand2 functions to promote ANS development as part of a larger transcriptional complex. Developmental Dynamics 234:613–621, 2005. © 2005 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.