Repression of Dlx1/2 Signaling by Nolz-1/Znf503 is Essential for Parcellation of the Striatal Complex into Dorsal and Ventral Striatum

The division of the striatum into dorsal and ventral districts is of central clinical importance. The dorsal striatum is differentially affected in Huntington9s disease, dopamine in the ventral striatum is differentially spared in Parkinson9s disease, and human brain imaging studies implicate the ventral striatum in addictive disorders. It fits that the dorsal striatum contains the cells of origin of the direct and indirect basal ganglia pathways for motor control. The ventral striatum is a node in neural circuits related to motivation and affect. Despite these striking neurobiologic contrasts, there is almost no information about how the dorsal and ventral divisions of the striatum are set up during development. Here, we demonstrate that interactions between the two key transcription factors Nolz-1 and Dlx1/2 control the migratory paths of developing striatal neurons to the dorsal or ventral striatum. Moreover, these same transcription factors control the cell identity of striatal projection neurons in both the dorsal and ventral striatum including the cell origin of the direct and indirect pathways. We show that Nolz-1 suppresses Dlx1/2 expression. Deletion of Nolz-1 or over-expression of Dlx1/2 can produce a striatal phenotype characterized by withered dorsal striatum and a swollen ventral striatum, and that we can rescue this phenotype by manipulating the interactions between Nolz-1 and Dlx1/2 transcription factors. This evidence suggests that the fundamental basis for divisions of the striatum known to be differentially vulnerable at maturity is already encoded by the time embryonic striatal neurons begin their migrations into the developing striatum.