Study finds the gene Atoh1 is critical for establishing diversity of pontine nuclei neurons

A recent study published in Science Advances by researchers at Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital has discovered six distinct neuronal lineages in the pons region of the brainstem and revealed new insights into their differential vulnerability to the partial loss of Atoh1, a gene crucial for the development of pontine neurons. The study was led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, Dr. Huda Y. Zoghbi, also a distinguished service professor at Baylor College of Medicine and founding director of the Jan and Dan Duncan Neurological Research Institute (Duncan NRI) at Texas Children’s Hospital.