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Brain Plasticity pp 3–17Cite as

Genes Controlling Neural Fate and Differentiation

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Part of the book series: Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology ((AEMB,volume 429))

Abstract

All neural functions—from simple sensory responses and motor commands to elaborate cognitive behaviours—depend on the assembly of neural circuits, a process initiated during embryonic development. An early and fundamental step in this process is the generation of distinct classes of neurons at precise locations within a primitive neural epithelium (reviewed in Tanabe and Jessel, 1996). Over the past decade, many of the mechanisms that control the identity of specific neural cell types have been defined, in large part through the application of molecular genetics in invertebrate organisms such as Drosophila and Caenorhanditis elegans but also through cellular and biochemical approaches in vertebrates. Collectively, the study of these diverse systems has provided considerable insight into the relative contributions of environmental signaling and lineage restrictions in neural development and has revealed the identity of many of the extracellular signalling factors and intracellular proteins that direct cell fate. In this chapter we a) present a brief overview of recent progress made in defining positive and negative regulators of neurogenesis in vertebrates and their similarities with invertebrate organisms, b) discuss how genes regulating cell-cycle are also essential participants in neural differentiation and c) review recent data implicating neuron-specific markers in neuronal differentiation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biochemistry, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, 127 Vasssilis Sofias Avenue, 11521, Athens, Greece

    Rebecca Matsas

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  1. Rebecca Matsas
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. University of Torino, Torino, Italy

    Guido Filogamo

  2. University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado, USA

    Antonia Vernadakis

  3. University of Cagliari, Cagliari, Italy

    Fulvia Gremo

  4. Université Montpellier II, Montpellier, France

    Alain M. Privat

  5. University of California, Berkeley, California, USA

    Paola S. Timiras

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Matsas, R. (1997). Genes Controlling Neural Fate and Differentiation. In: Filogamo, G., Vernadakis, A., Gremo, F., Privat, A.M., Timiras, P.S. (eds) Brain Plasticity. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology, vol 429. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4757-9551-6_1

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