ArticleNature communications2022
Maintenance of neurotransmitter identity by Hox proteins through a homeostatic mechanism.
Article in Nature communications, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 18 papers.
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Who cites it
18 citing papers in PubMed, 21 citations in OpenAlex.
- Intrinsic and non-cell-autonomous roles for the neurodevelopmental syndrome-linked transcription factor UNC-3/EBF.Nature communications · 2026Article
- Continuous negative autoregulation fine-tunes dosage-sensitive transcription factor expression to maintain post-mitotic neuron identity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2026Article
- Interlocked transcription factor feedback loops maintain and restore adult touch sensation.Cell reports · 2026Article
- Review
- PBX-dependent and independent Hox programs establish and maintain motor neuron terminal Identity.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Intrinsic and non-cell autonomous roles for a neurodevelopmental syndrome-linked transcription factor.bioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2025Article
- Cell type-specific functions of the PBAF chromatin-remodeling complex in neuronal diversification.Nature communications · 2025Article
- Pervasive homeobox gene function in the male-specific nervous system of Caenorhabditis elegans.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2025Article
- TheiScience · 2025Article
- Almost 40 years of studying homeobox genes in C. elegans.Development (Cambridge, England) · 2024Article
- Neurogenesis in Caenorhabditis elegans.Genetics · 2024Review
- Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Motor Circuit Development.The Journal of neuroscience : the official journal of the Society for Neuroscience · 2024Review
- MACSPI enables tissue-selective proteomic and interactomic analyses in multicellular organisms.Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America · 2024Article
- A molecular atlas of adult C. elegans motor neurons reveals ancient diversity delineated by conserved transcription factor codes.Cell reports · 2024Article
- Maintenance of neuronal identity in C. elegans and beyond: Lessons from transcription and chromatin factors.Seminars in cell & developmental biology · 2024Review
- A molecular atlas of adultbioRxiv : the preprint server for biology · 2023Article
- Maintenance of neuronal fate and transcriptional identity.Biology open · 2023Review
- Cell context-dependent CFI-1/ARID3 functions control neuronal terminal differentiation.Cell reports · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
4 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Hox transcription factors play fundamental roles during early patterning, but they are also expressed continuously, from embryonic stages through adulthood, in the nervous system. However, the functional significance of their sustained expression remains unclear. In C. elegans motor neurons (MNs), we find that LIN-39 (Scr/Dfd/Hox4-5) is continuously required during post-embryonic life to maintain neurotransmitter identity, a core element of neuronal function. LIN-39 acts directly to co-regulate genes that define cholinergic identity (e.g., unc-17/VAChT, cho-1/ChT). We further show that LIN-39, MAB-5 (Antp/Hox6-8) and the transcription factor UNC-3 (Collier/Ebf) operate in a positive feedforward loop to ensure continuous and robust expression of cholinergic identity genes. Finally, we identify a two-component design principle for homeostatic control of Hox gene expression in adult MNs: Hox transcriptional autoregulation is counterbalanced by negative UNC-3 feedback. These findings uncover a noncanonical role for Hox proteins during post-embryonic life, critically broadening their functional repertoire from early patterning to the control of neurotransmitter identity.
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.