Differentially expressed genes in isolated postnatal AP2e WT and null VNOs

Understanding the molecular mechanisms defining and maintaining the identity of a specific neuronal cell type is a central goal in neuroscience. The vomeronasal organ (VNO) of mice contains hundreds of distinct vomeronasal sensory neurons (VSNs). The VSNs are classified into two major cell types that are segregated in apical and basal regions of the VNO, express vomeronasal receptors of different superfamilies, and send axons to different portions of the accessory olfactory bulb. How apical or basal identity of VSNs is established and maintained is largely unknown. Here we attempt to assess the role of a single transcription factor, AP-2e, in the VNO of mice. We used microarrays to examine global effect of AP-2e loss-of-function on gene expression in the vomeronasal organ. Direct comparison between WT and AP2e-null VNOs阐明并维持特定神经元细胞类型身份的分子机制，是神经科学领域的核心研究目标之一。小鼠的犁鼻器（vomeronasal organ, VNO）内存在数百种各具特征的犁鼻感觉神经元（vomeronasal sensory neurons, VSNs）。该类神经元可分为两大主要类群，分别定位于犁鼻器的顶区与基区，表达不同超家族的犁鼻受体，并将轴突投射至副嗅球的不同区域。目前学界对于犁鼻感觉神经元的顶区或基区身份的建立与维持机制仍知之甚少。本研究旨在评估单一转录因子AP-2e在小鼠犁鼻器中的功能，我们借助微阵列（microarrays）技术检测了AP-2e功能缺失对小鼠犁鼻器基因表达的全局影响，并将对野生型（wild type, WT）与AP2e-null小鼠犁鼻器样本进行直接比对。