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R. Jeroen Pasterkamp
Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience
University Medical Center Utrecht
Utrecht, The Netherlands

Marten P. Smidt
Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience
University Medical Center Utrecht
Utrecht, The Netherlands

J. Peter H. Burbach
Rudolf Magnus Institute of Neuroscience
University Medical Center Utrecht
Utrecht, The Netherlands

About this book

The neurotransmitter dopamine has just celebrated its 50th birthday. The discovery of dopamine as a neuronal entity in the late 1950’s 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 neurotransmitter identities, and importantly, in which one started to be able to pinpoint the seat of brain disease. The chapters presented in this book provide an overview of the different stages that are distinguished during mdDA neuronal development. Chapter 1 discusses the dopamine systems of the zebrafish, being a powerful model organism for genetic intervention on the developmental programming of neuronal systems. In Chapter 2 an overview is presented of dopamine systems that are present in the vertebrate CNS. Chapters 3-6 discuss the early specification of dopamine precursors and the programs that lead to terminal differentiation. In Chapters 7 and 8 the maintenance of dopamine neurons is discussed with a special emphasis on neurotrophic support. The specific connectivity of the dopamine system and the axon guidance rules that apply to developing dopamine neurons are described in Chapter 9. An overview of ES-cell engineering of dopamine neurons is presented in Chapters 10 and 11. The research directed towards unraveling the molecular programming of mdDA neurons continues to be highly exciting. One may expect that novel biological principles will continue to emerge from this population of neurons. In the near future the field as a whole will mature towards a more comprehensive understanding of mdDA neuronal development and network integration, and will continue to apply knowledge of dopamine neuron development and function to the treatment of human disease.

Table of contents

1. Development of the Dopamine Systems in Zebrafish
Jörn Schweitzer and Wolfgang Driever

2. Dopamine Systems in the Forebrain
John W. Cave and Harriet Baker

3. The Role of Otx genes in Progenitor Domains of Ventral Midbrain
Antonio Simeone, Eduardo Puelles, Dario Acampora, Daniela Omodei, Pietro Mancuso and Luca Giovanni Di Giovannantonio

4. Terminal Differentiation of Mesodiencephalic Dopaminergic Neurons: the role of Nurr1 and Pitx3
Marten P. Smidt and J. Peter H. Burbach

5. Foxa1 and Foxa2 Transcription Factors Regulate Differentiation of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons
Siew-Lan Ang

6. Transcriptional Regulation of their Survival: The Engrailed Homeobox Genes
Horst H. Simon and Kambiz N. Alavian

7. Neurotrophic Support of Midbrain Dopaminergic Neurons
Oliver von Bohlen und Halbach and Klaus Unsicke

8. TGF-ß in Dopamine Neuron Development, Maintenance and Neuroprotection
Eleni Roussa, O. von Bohlen und Halbach and K. Krieglstein

9. Axon Guidance in the Dopamine System
Asheeta A. Prasad and R. Jeroen Pasterkamp

10. Protocols for Generating ES Cell-Derived Dopamine Neurons
Sonja Kriks and Lorenz Studer

11. Molecular and Cellular Determinants for Generating ES-Cell Derived Dopamine Neurons for Cell Therapy
Jan Pruszak and Ole Isacson