Development and Engineering of Dopamine Neurons

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xviii

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2. Development of the Dopamine Systems in Zebrafish

   • Jörn Schweitzer, Wolfgang Driever

   Pages 1-14

3. Dopamine Systems in the Forebrain

   • John W. Cave, Harriet Baker

   Pages 15-35

4. The Role of Otx Genes in Progenitor Domains of Ventral Midbrain

   • Antonio Simeone, Eduardo Puelles, Dario Acampora, Daniela Omodei, Pietro Mancuso, Luca Giovanni Di Giovannantonio

   Pages 36-46

5. Terminal Differentiation of Mesodiencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons:

   • Marten P. Smidt, J. Peter, H. Burbach

   Pages 47-57

6. Foxa1 and Foxa2 Transcription Factors Regulate Differentiation of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons

   • Siew-Lan Ang

   Pages 58-65

7. Transcriptional Regulation of Their Survival:

   • Horst H. Simon, Kambiz N. Alavian

   Pages 66-72

8. Neurotrophic Support of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons

   • Oliver von Bohlen, Klaus Unsicker

   Pages 73-80

9. TGF-β in Dopamine Neuron Development, Maintenance and Neuroprotection

   • Eleni Roussa, Oliver von Bohlen und Halback, Kerstin Krieglstein

   Pages 81-90

10. Axon Guidance in the Dopamine System

    • Asheeta A. Prasad, R. Jeroen Pasterkamp

    Pages 91-100

11. Protocols for Generating ES Cell-Derived Dopamine Neurons

    • Sonja Kriks, Lorenz Studer

    Pages 101-111

12. Molecular and Cellular Determinants for Generating ES-Cell Derived Dopamine Neurons for Cell Therapy

    • Jan Pruszak, Ole Isacson

    Pages 112-123

13. Back Matter

    Pages 125-127

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Theneurotransmitter dopamine has just celebrated its 50thbirthday. The discovery of dopamine as a neuronal entity in the late 1950s and the notion that it serves in neurotransmission has been a milestone in the field of neuroscience research. This milestone marked the beginning of an era that explored the brain as an integrated collection of neuronal systems that one could distinguish on basis of neurotransm- ter identities, and importantly, in which one started to be able to pinpoint the seat of brain disease. The mesodiencephalic dopaminergic (mdDA) system, previously designated as midbraindopaminergic system, has received much attention since its discovery. The initial identification of dopamine as a neurotransmitter in the central nervous system (CNS) and its relevance to psychiatric and neurological disorders have stimulated a plethora of neurochemical, pharmacological and genetic studies into the function of dopamine neurons and theirprojections. In the last decade, studies on gene expression and development have further increased the knowledge of this neuronal population and have unmasked a new level of complexity. The start of the molecular dissection of the mdDA system has been marked by the cloning and characterization ofNurrl and Pitx3. These transcription factors were shown to have a critical function during mdDA development. These initial studies have been followed by the identification of many other proteins, which have a crucial function in the creation of a dopamine neuron permissive region, induction of precursors, induction of terminaldifferent- tion and finally maintenance of the mdDA neuronal pool.

• Nervous System
• Parkinson
• forebrain
• neurons
• neuroscience

• Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands

  R. Jeroen Pasterkamp, Marten P. Smidt, J. Peter H. Burbach

R. Jeroen Pasterkamp is an Assistant Professor at the Rudolf Magnus
Institute of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University
Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. The focus of his laboratory is
directed towards understanding the molecular and intracellular signaling events
involved in the formation of neuronal connections with a particular focus on the
developing dopamine system. His research team concentrates on the developing
mouse embryo using an integrated approach involving molecular biology, cell biology,
in vivo functional proteomics, and mouse genetics. He received his PhD from
the Netherlands Institute for Neurosciences (Amsterdam, The Netherlands) and
did his Postdoctoral at the Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA.

Marten Smidt is an Associate Professor at the Rudolf Magnus Institute
of Neuroscience, Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, University
Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands. The focus of his laboratory is
directed towards understanding the developmental processes that underlie neuronal
differentiation and specification. The main focus has been the development of
mesodiencephalic dopamine neurons. The work includes mouse genetics, molecular
genetics and molecular biology. Marten Smidt received his PhD from the University
of Groningen (Groningen, The Netherlands) and did his postdoctoral at Utrecht
University, Department of Medical Pharmacology, Rudolf Magnus Institute of
Neuroscience (Utrecht, The Netherlands).

J. Peter H. Burbach is professor of Molecular Neuroscience at Utrecht
University and head of the Department of Neuroscience and Pharmacology, Rudolf
Magnus Institute of Neuroscience, University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The
Netherlands. His research interests concern the role of transcriptionfactors in development and regulation of peptidergic and dopaminergic neurons, and the molecular
mechanisms of human neurodevelopmental disorders. He received his PhD from
Utrecht University and did postdoctoral work at the Clinical Research Institute of
Montreal, Canada. He obtained professorships in Molecular Biology and Molecular
Neuroendocrinology. Since 2001 he is a Summer scientist at the Marine Biological
Laboratory, Woods Hole, MA, USA.

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