Gene/Protein Disease Symptom Drug Enzyme Compound
Pivot Concepts:   Target Concepts:
Query: UMLS:C0016632 (Fox)
 1,461 document(s) hit in 31,850,051 MEDLINE articles (0.00 seconds)

Many members of the forkhead/winged helix transcriptional factors are known to be regulators of embryogenesis. Mutations of the Fox gene family have been implicated in a range of human developmental disorders. Foxp2, a member of the Fox gene family, has recently been identified as the first gene that is linked to an inherited form of language and speech disorder. To elucidate the anatomical basis of language processing in the brain, we have examined the expression pattern of Foxp2 gene and its homologous gene, Foxp1, in the rat brain through development. Expression of Foxp2 mRNA was detected in the ventral telencephalon as early as embryonic day 13. Foxp2 mRNA was expressed primarily in differentiated cells of the lateral ganglionic eminence (striatal primordium). Of particular interest was that the developmental expression of Foxp2 followed a compartmental order in the striatum. Patches containing high levels of Foxp2 were aligned with patches enriched in mu-opoid receptor, a marker for striosomal cells, in the striatum through postnatal development. Conversely, Foxp2-positive patches were devoid of calbindin-D28k, a maker for striatal matrix cells. Therefore, Foxp2 was preferentially expressed in striosomal compartment in the striatum during development. In the mature striatum, Foxp2 expression was maintained in striosomes, although its expression level was reduced. In contrast to Foxp2, Foxp1 was expressed in both the striosomal and matrix compartments in the striatum through development. The striatum is known to be involved in the process of procedural memory, and mutation of Foxp2 results in neurological disorders of language and speech. Given the preferential expression of Foxp2 in the striosomal compartment, the striatum, particularly the striosomal system, may participate in neural information processing for language and speech. Our suggestion is consistent with the declarative/procedural model proposed by Ullman and colleagues (Ullman et al. [1997] J. Cogn. Neurosci. 9:266-276; Ullman [2001] Nat. Rev. Neurosci. 2:717-726), in which the procedural memory-dependent mental grammar is rooted in the basal ganglia and the frontal cortex and the declarative memory-dependent mental lexicon is rooted in the temporal lobe.
 ...
PMID:Expression of Foxp2, a gene involved in speech and language, in the developing and adult striatum. 1281 9

The suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) has several structural characteristics and cell phenotypes shared across species. Here, we describe a novel feature of SCN anatomy that is seen in both hamster and mouse. Frozen sections through the SCN were obtained from fixed brains and stained for the presence of immunoreactivity to neuronal nuclear protein (NeuN-IR) using a mouse monoclonal antibody which is known to exclusively identify neurons. NeuN-IR did not identify all SCN neurons as medial NeuN-IR neurons were generally not present. In the hamster, NeuN-IR cells are present rostrally, scattered in the dorsal half of the nucleus. More caudally, the NeuN-IR cells are largely, but not exclusively, scattered inside the lateral and dorsolateral border. At mid- to mid-caudal SCN levels, a dense group of NeuN-IR cells extends from the dorsolateral border ventromedially to encompass the central subnucleus of the SCN (SCNce). The pattern is similar in the mouse SCN. NeuN-IR does not co-localize with either cholecystokinin- or vasoactive intestinal polypeptide, but does with vasopressin-IR in the caudal SCN. In the hamster SCNce, numerous cells contain both calbindin- and NeuN-IR. The distribution of NeuN-IR cells in the SCN is unique, especially with regard to its generally lateral location through the length of the nucleus. The distribution of NeuN-IR cells is not consistent with most schemas representing SCN organization or with terminology referring to its widely accepted subdivisions. NeuN has recently been identified as Fox-3 protein. Its function in the SCN is not known, nor is it known why a large proportion of SCN cells do not contain NeuN-IR.
 ...
PMID:Neurons identified by NeuN/Fox-3 immunoreactivity have a novel distribution in the hamster and mouse suprachiasmatic nucleus. 2198 5