Developmental distribution of serotonergic neurons and analysis of serotonin receptor expression in hoxa2 mutant mice

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Project objective

Research objectives and content Serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-MT) is one of the well known monoamine neurotransmitters mediating awide variety of physiological effects, both in central (CNS) and peripheral nervous system, including themodulation of appetite, memory, mood, thermoregulation, and sexual behavior.The finding that serotonin (5-HT) receptors are present during early development of the vertebratehindbrain and craniofacial structures suggests that they may perform developmental functions. On the other hand, virtually nothing is known about the genetic control of their expression. Hox genes are primecandidates to control early patterning events in the mouse hindbrain and neural crest and among them theHoxa2 gene, in particular, appears to play an important role in these processes. The availability of a Hoxa2mutant mouse line provides a nice system to study potential links between early patterning events and the differentiation of defined neuronal populations. The aim of this project is to investigate the developmentaldistribution of hindbrain serotonergic neurons and the expression of specific 5-HT receptors in neural crest cells (NCC) of Hoxa2 mutant embryos. Training content (objective, benefit and expected impact) This project should provide the opportunity to learn basic mouse embryology together with severaltechniques of manipulation and analysis of phenotypes at both cellular and molecular levels (e.g. antero- and retrograde labeling of neurons and their axons using fluorescent neuronal tracers, immunohistochemistry, whole-mount in situ hybridization). The possibility of carrying on the project in an institute of outstanding quality such as the IGBMCconstitutes a unique opportunity to broaden my knowledge and skills in developmental biology andneurobiology and I consider that such training is fundamental for my research career. Links with industry / industrial relevance (22) None

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Participants

• CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE · PARISCoordinatorFrance

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