Due to their correlation with major human neurological diseases, dopaminergic neurons are some of the most studied neuronal subtypes. Mesencephalic dopaminergic (mDA) differentiation requires the activation of a cascade of transcription factors, among which play a crucial role the nuclear receptor Nurr1 and the paired-like homeodomain 3, Pitx3. During development the expression of Nurr1 precede...

Knocking out of Nurr1 gene, a member of nuclear receptor superfamily, causes selective agenesis of dopaminergic neurons in midbrain. Reduced expression of Nurr1 increases the vulnerability of mesencephalic dopamine neurons to dopaminergic toxins. We evaluated the role of nitric oxide as a possible mechanism for this increased susceptibility. Increased expression of neuronal nitric oxide synthas...

The Nurr1 gene, which codes for a transcriptional factor in the nuclear receptor superfamily, plays an important role in the development of the mesencephalic dopaminergic (DAergic) system. To study the age-dependent effects of Nurr1 expression in maintaining mature nigrostriatal DAergic neuronal function, we examined motor behaviors, determined nigrostriatal dopamine (DA) levels and the number ...

In recent years, the meso-diencephalic dopaminergic (mdDA) neurons have been extensively studied for their association with Parkinson's disease. Thus far, specification of the dopaminergic phenotype of mdDA neurons is largely attributed to the orphan nuclear receptor Nurr1. In this study, we provide evidence for extensive interplay between Nurr1 and the homeobox transcription factor Pitx3 in vi...

The transcription factor NURR1 plays a pivotal role in the development and maintenance of neurotransmitter phenotype in midbrain dopamine neurons. Conversely, decreased NURR1 expression is associated with a number of dopamine-related CNS disorders, including Parkinson's disease and drug addiction. In order to better understand the nature of NURR1-responsive genes and their potential roles in do...

The orphan nuclear receptor nurr1 (NR4A2) is an essential transcription factor for the acquisition and maintenance of the phenotype of dopamine (DA)-synthesizing neurons in the mesencephalon. Although structurally related to ligand-regulated nuclear receptors, nurr1 is functionally atypical due to its inability to bind a cognate ligand and to activate transcription following canonical nuclear r...

The orphan nuclear receptor Nurr1 is essential for the development of meso-diencephalic dopamine (mdDA) neurons and is required, together with the homeobox transcription factor Pitx3, for the expression of genes involved in dopamine metabolism. In order to elucidate the molecular mechanisms that underlie the neuronal deficits in Nurr1(-/-) mice, we performed combined gene expression microarrays...

Nurr1 is an orphan nuclear receptor-type transcription factor (TF) that plays critical roles in midbrain dopamine neuron development. This study demonstrated a novel role for Nurr1 in neuronal/astrocytic differentiation of neural precursor (NP) cells isolated from rat embryonic cortices: overexpression of this TF promoted NP cell differentiation towards neurons at the expense of astrocytic diff...

Advances in neonatal care have allowed premature infants to survive at earlier gestational ages, but they are often afflicted with neurological delays or deficits. Maternal inflammation has been identified as a major risk factor for premature birth and once born, infants often require supplemental oxygen for survival. Nurr1 (NR4A2) is an orphan nuclear receptor with no known binding site and is...

Neural precursor cells provide an expandable source of neurons and glia for basic and translational applications. However, little progress has been made in directing naive neural precursors toward specific neuronal fates such as midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons. We have recently demonstrated that transgenic expression of the nuclear orphan receptor Nurr1 is sufficient to drive dopaminergic differ...