High impact information on Irx1

• The Iroquois homeobox gene Irx2 is not essential for normal development of the heart and midbrain-hindbrain boundary in mice [1].
• In addition, we identify a novel downstream target of activin signalling, the Iroquois-related homeobox gene, Irx1, and show that its expression in activin betaA mutant embryos is lost in all tooth germs, including the maxillary molars [2].
• The Iroquois homeobox gene, Irx5, is required for retinal cone bipolar cell development [3].
• We isolated cDNAs of mouse Iroquois-related homeobox genes Irx1, -2, -3, -4, and -5 and characterized their patterns of expression in the developing heart [4].
• The six members of the murine family were found to be organized in two cognate clusters of three genes each, Irx1, -2, -4 and Irx3, -5, -6, respectively (Peters et al., 2000) [5].

Anatomical context of Irx1

• Members of the Drosophila Iroquois homeobox gene family are implicated in the development of peripheral nervous system and the regionalization of wing and eye imaginal discs [6].
• Irx3 is a member of the Iroquois homeobox gene family that encodes a protein known for its essential role in spinal cord development [7].

Other interactions of Irx1

• Three mouse Irx genes, Irx1, Irx2 and Irx3, have been previously identified and are expressed with distinct spatio-temporal patterns during neurogenesis [6].
• In most tissues the pattern of expression of the clustered genes, especially of Irx1 and -2 and of Irx3 and -5, respectively, closely resembled each other while those of Irx4 and -6 were very divergent [5].

References