Translate this page to:
Choose Language…
In JoVE (1)
Other Publications (2)
Articles by Yong-Chao Ma in JoVE
JoVE Neuroscience
In ovo Electroporation in Chick Midbrain for Studying Gene Function in Dopaminergic Neuron Development
1Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Children's Hospital of Chicago Research Center, 2Departments of Pediatrics, Neurology and Physiology, Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine
To assess the function and the regulation of genes during the development of midbrain dopaminergic neurons, we describe a method that involves in ovo electroporation of plasmid DNA constructs into embryonic chick ventral midbrain dopaminergic neuron progenitors. This technique can be used to achieve efficient expression of genes of interest to study different aspects of midbrain development and dopaminergic neuron differentiation.
Other articles by Yong-Chao Ma on PubMed
[{Cu(phen)2}(mu-malato){Cu(phen)(NO3)}](NO3).4H2O: Malate Acting As a Tetradentate and Dibridging Ligand in a Dinuclear Copper Complex
The crystal structure of the title compound, mu-2-hydroxybutanedioato-1kappa2O4,O4':2kappa3O1,O2,O4-nitrato-2kappaO-tris(1,10-phenanthroline)-1kappa(4)N,N';2kappa(2)N,N'-dicopper(II) nitrate tetrahydrate, [Cu2(C4H3O5)(NO3)(C12H8N2)3](NO3).4H2O, contains an unsymmetrical dinuclear copper complex with Cu(phen)2 and Cu(phen)(NO3) moieties (phen is 1,10-phenanthroline) bridged by a malate (2-hydroxybutanedioate) ligand, which acts as a double-bridging and tetradentate ligand. As a result of this double-bridging action, especially the direct coordination of the O atom of one carboxylate group of malate to the two Cu atoms, the Cu...Cu distance is only 4.199 (1) Angstrom and the two phen planes are roughly parallel [the shortest interplanar distance is 3.28 (1) Angstrom], exhibiting an obvious intramolecular pi-pi stacking interaction.
Regulation of Motor Neuron Specification by Phosphorylation of Neurogenin 2
The mechanisms by which proneural basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) factors control neurogenesis have been characterized, but it is not known how they specify neuronal cell-type identity. Here, we provide evidence that two conserved serine residues on the bHLH factor neurogenin 2 (Ngn2), S231 and S234, are phosphorylated during motor neuron differentiation. In knockin mice in which S231 and S234 of Ngn2 were mutated to alanines, neurogenesis occurs normally, but motor neuron specification is impaired. The phosphorylation of Ngn2 at S231 and S234 facilitates the interaction of Ngn2 with LIM homeodomain transcription factors to specify motor neuron identity. The phosphorylation-dependent cooperativity between Ngn2 and homeodomain transcription factors may be a general mechanism by which the activities of bHLH and homeodomain proteins are temporally and spatially integrated to generate the wide diversity of cell types that are a hallmark of the nervous system.
