Regional Expression of MTG Genes in the Developing Mouse Central Nervous System

Myeloid translocation gene (MTG) proteins are transcriptional repressors that are highly conserved across species. We studied the expression of three members of this gene family, MTGR1, MTG8, and MTG16 in developing mouse central nervous system by in situ hybridization. All of these genes are detected as early as embryonic day 11.5. Because these genes are known to be induced by proneural genes during neurogenesis, we analyzed the expression of MTG genes in relation to two proneural genes, Neurog2 (also known as Ngn2 or Neurogenin 2) and Ascl1 (also known as Mash1). While MTGR1 are generally expressed in regions that also express Neurog2, MTG8 and MTG16 expression is associated more tightly with that of Ascl1-expressing neural progenitor cells. These results suggest the possibility that expression of MTG genes is differentially controlled by specific proneural genes during neurogenesis. Developmental Dynamics 238: 2095-2102, 2009. (C) 2009 Wiley-Liss, Inc.