First published online October 27, 2004
Development 131, 2202e (2004)
© The Company of Biologists Limited
Crucial timing in brain building
The size, shape and structural integrity of the nervous system (and of
other organs) depend on how many times its stem cells divide before
differentiating. On p.
5539, Hatakeyama et
al. report that the Hes genes, effectors of the Notch signalling pathway,
control the timing of neural stem cell differentiation in the mouse nervous
system. In normal mice, both neuroepithelial cells and the radial glial cells
that are derived from them are neural stem cells; that is, they initially
self-renew before undergoing terminal differentiation. In the absence of Hes1,
Hes3 and Hes5, the researchers show that neuroepithelial cells form normally
but are not properly maintained, and that radial glial cells prematurely
differentiate into neurons. The resultant disorganisation of the nervous
system in these mice, suggest the researchers, is because the missing radial
glial cells normally form the structures that maintain neural tube
morphology.
Related articles in Development:
- Hes genes regulate size, shape and histogenesis of the nervous system by control of the timing of neural stem cell differentiation
- Jun Hatakeyama, Yasumasa Bessho, Kazuo Katoh, Shigeo Ookawara, Makio Fujioka, François Guillemot, and Ryoichiro Kageyama
Development 2004 131: 5539-5550.
[Abstract]
[Full Text]
