Parkinson’s disease (PD) is caused by the loss of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra, probably through apoptosis. Albéri and co-workers now report that the engrailed (En) genes are required to prevent apoptosis of newly-born mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons (see p. 3229). The homeobox transcription factors En1 and En2 are expressed in these neurons from early development to adulthood. In En1/En2-null mice, in which large areas of the brain are lost, mesencephalic dopaminergic neurons are generated and become postmitotic but are then lost by birth. The researchers show that this loss occurs by E14 through apoptosis. In vitro cell-mixing and RNAi experiments indicate that apoptosis induction occurs within 24 hours of En downregulation because of a cell-autonomous requirement for En. The researchers speculate that small changes in En expression could underlie the slow degeneration of dopaminergic neurons seen in PD.
Interviews with Biologists @ 100 conference speakers
Explore our interviews with keynote speakers from the Biologists @ 100 conference, hosted to celebrate our publisher’s 100th anniversary, where we discuss climate change and biodiversity with Hans-Otto Pörtner and Jane Francis, health and disease with Charles Swanton and Sadaf Farooqi, and emerging technologies with Manu Prakash and Jennifer Lippincott-Schwartz.
Call for papers – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues
Development invites you to submit your latest research to our upcoming special issue – Lifelong Development: the Maintenance, Regeneration and Plasticity of Tissues. This issue will be coordinated by Guest Editors Meritxell Huch (Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics, Germany) and Mansi Srivastava (Harvard University and Museum of Comparative Zoology, USA), working alongside our team of academic Editors. Submit your articles by 30 May 2025.
A case for broadening our view of mechanism in developmental biology
In this Perspective, B. Duygu Özpolat and colleagues survey researchers on their views on what it takes to infer mechanism in developmental biology. They examine what factors shape our idea of what we mean by ‘mechanism’ and suggest a path forward that embraces a broad outlook on the diversity of studies that advance knowledge in our field.
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