Target genes of thyroid hormone in cerebellum neurons

Cerebellar post-natal development is particularly sensitive to thyroid hormone and low levels of thyroid hormone (hypothyroidism) result in permanent defects in cerebellar architecture and function. All cell types of the cerebellum are affected, but the main sign of hypothyroidism in mice is the persistence of the external granular layer, composed of mitotic neuronal precursors at P21. To make the genetic link between thyroid hormone and cerebellar development, we sought to identify new thyroid hormone target genes, in particular in granule cells which represent the vast majority of cerebellar cells. Primary cultures of cerebellar neurons were made by dissociation of cerebella from newborn wild-type mice. These cells were plated 48 hours in serum-free medium to avoid invasion of the culture by glial cells. In order to include a kinetic and a maximum number of target genes, several cultures were either treated or left untreated as controls for 6 hours (T1), 16 hours (T2), 24 hours (T3) or 48 hours (T4) and results were pairwise compared for each time point.