Pax-3, a novel murine DNA binding protein expressed during early neurogenesis.

EMBO J. 1991 May; 10(5): 1135–1147.

PMCID: PMC452767

M D Goulding, G Chalepakis, U Deutsch, J R Erselius, and P Gruss

Max Planck Institute for Biophysical Chemistry, Göttingen, Germany.

This article has been cited by other articles in PMC.

Abstract

We describe the isolation and characterization of Pax-3, a novel murine paired box gene expressed exclusively during embryogenesis. Pax-3 encodes a 479 amino acid protein with an Mr of 56 kd containing both a paired domain and a paired-type homeodomain. The Pax-3 protein is a DNA binding protein that specifically recognizes the e5 sequence present upstream of the Drosophila even-skipped gene. Pax-3 transcripts are first detected in 8.5 day mouse embryos where they are restricted to the dorsal part of the neuroepithelium and to the adjacent segmented dermomyotome. During early neurogenesis, Pax-3 expression is limited to mitotic cells in the ventricular zone of the developing spinal cord and to distinct regions in the hindbrain, midbrain and diencephalon. In 10-12 day embryos, expression of Pax-3 is also seen in neural crest cells of the developing spinal ganglia, the craniofacial mesectoderm and in limb mesenchyme of 10 and 11 day embryos.

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