Developmental Cell
Volume 26, Issue 1, 15 July 2013, Pages 59-72
Journal home page for Developmental Cell

Article
Otx2 and Onecut1 Promote the Fates of Cone Photoreceptors and Horizontal Cells and Repress Rod Photoreceptors

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.devcel.2013.06.005Get rights and content
Under an Elsevier user license
open archive

Highlights

  • ThrbCRM1 is a cis-regulatory element active in cone/horizontal retinal progenitors

  • Otx2 and Onecut1 are coexpressed in retinal progenitors and coregulate ThrbCRM1

  • Onecut1 promotes cone photoreceptor and horizontal cell genesis

  • Onecut1 suppresses rod photoreceptor genesis

Summary

Cone photoreceptors carry out phototransduction in daylight conditions and provide the critical first step in color vision. Despite their importance, little is known about the developmental mechanisms involved in their generation, particularly how they are determined relative to rod photoreceptors, the cells that initiate vision in dim light. Here, we report the identification of a cis-regulatory module (CRM) for the thyroid hormone receptor beta (Thrb) gene, an early cone marker. We found that ThrbCRM1 is active in progenitor cells biased to the production of cones and an interneuronal cell type, the horizontal cell (HC). Molecular analysis of ThrbCRM1 revealed that it is combinatorially regulated by the Otx2 and Onecut1 transcription factors. Onecut1 is sufficient to induce cells with the earliest markers of cones and HCs. Conversely, interference with Onecut1 transcriptional activity leads to precocious rod development, suggesting that Onecut1 is critically important in defining cone versus rod fates.

Cited by (0)

3

Present address: Department of Biology, The City College of New York, City University of New York, New York, NY 10031, USA