Disease relevance of Myt1

• Myt1 expressing cells proliferated most extensively during active demyelination and subsequently accumulated to maximal levels during early remyelination [1].
• The potential of Myt1 to play a role in OP responses leading to remyelination was examined using murine hepatitis virus strain A59 (MHV) to induce spinal cord demyelination and potential relevance to human pathology was evaluated in multiple sclerosis (MS) lesions [1].

High impact information on Myt1

• Moreover, we present preliminary functional evidence suggesting that one transcription factor encoding gene (Myt1), which was identified in our screen, is expressed in endocrine progenitors and may regulate alpha, beta and delta cell development [2].
• Unlike the widely expressed Wee1 and Myt1, mWee1B mRNA and its protein are expressed only in oocytes, and mRNA downregulation by RNAi injection in vitro or transgenic overexpression of RNAi in vivo causes a leaky meiotic arrest [3].
• Myelin transcription factor 1 (Myt1) is a zinc-finger DNA binding protein that influences developing oligodendrocyte progenitor (OP) cell proliferation, differentiation, and myelin gene transcription in vitro [1].
• These results suggesta potential role for Myt1 in the regeneration of oligodendrocyte lineage cells in response to demyelination [1].
• In MHV-infected mice, the density of Myt1 expressing cells markedly increased in lesioned areas of spinal cord white matter [1].

Biological context of Myt1

• We present a model in which the Myt1 family of zinc finger proteins, when bound to a neural promoter, can recruit Sin3B [4].
• Cells with nuclear Myt1 immunoreactivity were mainly OP cells, identified by co-localization with platelet-derived growth factor alpha receptor, with additional phenotypes being either oligodendrocytes or neural stem cells, identified by CC1 antigen and Musashi1, respectively [1].

Anatomical context of Myt1

• In embryonic mouse nervous system, the expression of NZF-2b starts as early as at 9.5 days post-coitum (dpc) in newly differentiated neurons in the central nervous system (CNS) and the peripheral nervous system (PNS) [5].
• In MHV lesions, Myt1 was not expressed in astrocytes, lymphocytes, or macrophage/microglial cells [1].

References