The transcription factor Sox10 is a key regulator of peripheral glial development

  1. Stefan Britsch1,5,
  2. Derk E. Goerich2,3,5,
  3. Dieter Riethmacher3,
  4. Reto I. Peirano2,3,
  5. Moritz Rossner4,
  6. Klaus-Armin Nave4,
  7. Carmen Birchmeier1,6, and
  8. Michael Wegner2,3,6
  1. 1Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine, D-13122 Berlin, Germany; 2Institut für Biochemie, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg, D-91054 Erlangen Germany; 3Zentrum für Molekulare Neurobiologie, D-20246 Hamburg, Germany; 4Max-Planck-Institut für Experimentelle Medizin, D-37075 Göttingen, Germany

Abstract

The molecular mechanisms that determine glial cell fate in the vertebrate nervous system have not been elucidated. Peripheral glial cells differentiate from pluripotent neural crest cells. We show here that the transcription factor Sox10 is a key regulator in differentiation of peripheral glial cells. In mice that carry a spontaneous or a targeted mutation of Sox10, neuronal cells form in dorsal root ganglia, but Schwann cells or satellite cells are not generated. At later developmental stages, this lack of peripheral glial cells results in a severe degeneration of sensory and motor neurons. Moreover, we show that Sox10 controls expression ofErbB3 in neural crest cells. ErbB3 encodes a Neuregulin receptor, and down-regulation of ErbB3 accounts for many changes in development of neural crest cells observed in Sox10mutant mice. Sox10 also has functions not mediated by ErbB3, for instance in the melanocyte lineage. Phenotypes observed in heterozygous mice that carry a targeted Sox10 null allele reproduce those observed in heterozygous Sox10 Dom mice. Haploinsufficiency of Sox10 can thus cause pigmentation and megacolon defects, which are also observed inSox10 Dom/+ mice and in patients with Waardenburg-Hirschsprung disease caused by heterozygous SOX10mutations.

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Footnotes

  • 5 These authors contributed equally to this work.

  • 6 Corresponding authors.

  • E-MAIL cbirch{at}mdc-berlin.de; FAX 49-30-9406-3765.

  • E-MAIL m.wegner{at}biochem.uni-erlangen.de; FAX 49-9131-85-22484.

  • Article and publication are at www.genesdev.org/cgi/doi/10.1101/gad.186601.

    • Received July 2, 2000.
    • Accepted November 16, 2000.
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