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MicroRNA-dependent genetic networks during neural development

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Abstract

The development of the structurally and functionally diverse mammalian nervous system requires the integration of numerous levels of gene regulation. Accumulating evidence suggests that microRNAs are key mediators of genetic networks during neural development. Importantly, microRNAs are found to regulate both feedback and feedforward loops during neural development leading to large changes in gene expression. These repressive interactions provide an additional mechanism that facilitates the establishment of complexity within the nervous system. Here, we review studies that have enabled the identification of microRNAs enriched in the brain and discuss the way that genetic networks in neural development depend on microRNAs.

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  1. Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA

    Daniel G. Abernathy & Andrew S. Yoo

  2. Program of Developmental, Regenerative, and Stem Cell Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, St. Louis, MO, 63110, USA

    Daniel G. Abernathy

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Correspondence to Andrew S. Yoo.

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Abernathy, D.G., Yoo, A.S. MicroRNA-dependent genetic networks during neural development. Cell Tissue Res 359, 179–185 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00441-014-1899-4

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