Transcription factor Arx null brains (fulp-affy-mouse-364520)

Arx is a paired-box homeodomain transcription factor and the vertebrate ortholog to the Drosophila aristaless (al) gene. Mutations in Arx are associated with a variety of human diseases, including X-linked infantile spasm syndrome (OMIM: 308350), X-linked myoclonic epilepsy with mental retardation and spasticity (OMIM: 300432), X-linked lissencephaly with ambiguous genitalia (OMIM: 300215), X-linked mental retardation 54 (OMIM: 300419), and agenesis of the corpus callosum with abnormal genitalia (OMIM: 300004). Arx-deficient mice exhibit a complex, pleiotrophic phenotype, including decreased proliferation of neuroepithelial cells of the cortex, dysgenesis of the thalamus and olfactory bulbs, and abnormal nonradial migration of GABAergic interneurons. It has been suggested that deficits in interneuron specification, migration, or function lead to loss of inhibitory neurotransmission, which then fails to control excitatory activity and leads to epilepsy or spasticities. Given that Arx mutations are associated with developmental disorders in which epilepsy and spasticity predominate and that Arx-deficient mice exhibit deficits in interneuron migration, understanding the function of Arx in interneuron migration will prove crucial to understanding the pathology underlying interneuronopathies. Yet, downstream transcriptional targets of Arx, to date, remain unidentified.

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Fulp CT, Cho G, Marsh ED, Nasrallah IM, Labosky PA, Golden JA