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How can you tell the difference between two proteins if the antibodies are not specific? This was a problem that researchers studying the cortex came across when determining the function of Otx2. In a recent F1000Research article, researchers from France and Italy found a solution. In this interview, one of the study’s authors, Alain Prochiantz of the Center for Interdisciplinary Research in Biology in Paris, explains more about the work, and shares his experience of publishing in F1000Research.

 

Can you tell us briefly what your article is about?

Otx2 homeoprotein (a transcription factor) is present in post-natal and adult cortex even though the locus is not active in this structure, giving weight to the non-cell autonomous concept for homeoprotein signaling. However most antibodies used recognize Otx2 and Otx1, the latter protein being expressed in the cortex, raising the possibility that part of the Otx2 staining may correspond to Otx1. The persistence of the staining in the Otx1 null mouse, plus the absence of Otx2 transcripts analyzed by QRT-PCR and the identification of cortical Otx2 by immunoprecipitation (western blot) and mass spectrometry definitively establish that Otx2 is transported to the cortex from external sources, in particular the choroid plexus.

 

What does this discovery mean for researchers who are studying plasticity in the visual cortex?

In collaboration with the group of Takao Hensch, we have shown that Otx2 import into fast-spiking PV-cells in the mouse visual cortex opens plasticity at post-natal day 20 (P20) and closes it at P40. Further more, the recombination of Otx2 in the choroid plexus decreases the amount of imported cortical Otx2 and reopens plasticity. This study thus adds to the idea that Otx2 levels in the visual cortex regulates plasticity throughout life. This might not be limited to the visual cortex as Otx2 is found in fast-spiking PV-cells throughout the cortex.

 

How did you experience the peer review process at F1000Research?

Very simple and straightforward.

 

You’ve shared your full qPCR and mass spectroscopy data with this article. What do you think of the F1000Research policy to include all underlying data with articles?

I see it as a very important step towards openness and clarity. It lends a lot of weight to published papers if one has to provide key raw data.

 

Would you submit to F1000Research again in the future?

I would like very much to do so, but one has to be honest and say that, at the present time, many young (and not so young) colleagues do not see this mode of publication as helpful for their future careers as the classical one. This does not mean that the situation will not evolve, given the waste of time and energy often spent in the traditional publication process and the power game that accompanies it.