Neurogenin 2 (NEUROG2)

Neurogenin-2 is a member of the neurogenin subfamily of basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor genes that play an important role in neurogenesis. Ectopic expression of Ngn2 in nonneural, retinal pigment epithelial cell culture triggered de novo generation of cells that expressed neural-specific markers and exhibited neuronal morphologies. Further molecular and morphologic analyses showed that the main products of the induced neurogenesis were cells resembling young photoreceptor cells and cells resembling retinal ganglion cells. The generation of multiple cell types suggested that Ngn2 induces various retinal pathways. Thus, whereas Ngn2 in the peripheral nervous system specifies one type of sensory neuron, Ngn2 in the retina is likely to be involved in a common step leading to different cellular pathways.