Related Research Articles
The neural plate is a key developmental structure that serves as the basis for the nervous system. Cranial to the primitive node of the embryonic primitive streak, ectodermal tissue thickens and flattens to become the neural plate. The region anterior to the primitive node can be generally referred to as the neural plate. Cells take on a columnar appearance in the process as they continue to lengthen and narrow. The ends of the neural plate, known as the neural folds, push the ends of the plate up and together, folding into the neural tube, a structure critical to brain and spinal cord development. This process as a whole is termed primary neurulation.
RNA polymerase 1 is, in higher eukaryotes, the polymerase that only transcribes ribosomal RNA, a type of RNA that accounts for over 50% of the total RNA synthesized in a cell.
In genetics, a silencer is a DNA sequence capable of binding transcription regulation factors, called repressors. DNA contains genes and provides the template to produce messenger RNA (mRNA). That mRNA is then translated into proteins. When a repressor protein binds to the silencer region of DNA, RNA polymerase is prevented from transcribing the DNA sequence into RNA. With transcription blocked, the translation of RNA into proteins is impossible. Thus, silencers prevent genes from being expressed as proteins.
The PAX3 gene encodes a member of the paired box or PAX family of transcription factors. The PAX family consists of nine human (PAX1-PAX9) and nine mouse (Pax1-Pax9) members arranged into four subfamilies. Human PAX3 and mouse Pax3 are present in a subfamily along with the highly homologous human PAX7 and mouse Pax7 genes. The human PAX3 gene is located in the 2q36.1 chromosomal region, and contains 10 exons within a 100 kb region.
The miR-124 microRNA precursor is a small non-coding RNA molecule that has been identified in flies, nematode worms, mouse and human. The mature ~21 nucleotide microRNAs are processed from hairpin precursor sequences by the Dicer enzyme, and in this case originates from the 3' arm. miR-124 has been found to be the most abundant microRNA expressed in neuronal cells. Experiments to alter expression of miR-124 in neural cells did not appear to affect differentiation. However these results are controversial since other reports have described a role for miR-124 during neuronal differentiation.
SRY -box 2, also known as SOX2, is a transcription factor that is essential for maintaining self-renewal, or pluripotency, of undifferentiated embryonic stem cells. Sox2 has a critical role in maintenance of embryonic and neural stem cells.
Achaete-scute homolog 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the ASCL1 gene. Because it was discovered subsequent to studies on its homolog in Drosophila, the Achaete-scute complex, it was originally named MASH-1 for mammalian achaete scute homolog-1.
Double-stranded RNA-binding protein Staufen homolog 1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the STAU1 gene.
Oligodendrocyte transcription factor (OLIG2) is a basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factor encoded by the Olig2 gene. The protein is of 329 amino acids in length, 32 kDa in size and contains one basic helix-loop-helix DNA-binding domain. It is one of the three members of the bHLH family. The other two members are OLIG1 and OLIG3. The expression of OLIG2 is mostly restricted in central nervous system, where it acts as both an anti-neurigenic and a neurigenic factor at different stages of development. OLIG2 is well known for determining motor neuron and oligodendrocyte differentiation, as well as its role in sustaining replication in early development. It is mainly involved in diseases such as brain tumor and Down syndrome.
ID4 is a protein coding gene. In humans, it encodes for the protein known as DNA-binding protein inhibitor ID-4. This protein is known to be involved in the regulation of many cellular processes during both prenatal development and tumorigenesis. This is inclusive of embryonic cellular growth, senescence, cellular differentiation, apoptosis, and as an oncogene in angiogenesis.
Homeobox protein Hox-A3 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the HOXA3 gene.
RNA-binding protein Musashi homolog 1 also known as Musashi-1 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MSI1 gene.
Neurogenins are a family of bHLH transcription factors involved in specifying neuronal differentiation. It is one of many gene families related to the atonal gene in Drosophila. Other positive regulators of neuronal differentiation also expressed during early neural development include NeuroD and ASCL1.
Homeobox protein GBX-2 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the GBX2 gene.
In molecular biology, miR-137 is a short non-coding RNA molecule that functions to regulate the expression levels of other genes by various mechanisms. miR-137 is located on human chromosome 1p22 and has been implicated to act as a tumor suppressor in several cancer types including colorectal cancer, squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma via cell cycle control.
Epigenetic regulation of neurogenesis is the role that epigenetics plays in the regulation of neurogenesis.
Musashi-2, also known as Musashi RNA binding protein 2, is a protein that in humans is encoded by the MSI2 gene. Like its homologue musashi-1 (MSI1), it is an RNA-binding protein involved in stemness.
Solute carrier family 39 member 12 is a protein that in humans is encoded by the SLC39A12 gene.
Brain cytoplasmic 200 long-noncoding RNA is a 200 nucleotide RNA transcript found predominantly in the brain with a primary function of regulating translation by inhibiting its initiation. As a long non-coding RNA, it belongs to a family of RNA transcripts that are not translated into protein (ncRNAs). Of these ncRNAs, lncRNAs are transcripts of 200 nucleotides or longer and are almost three times more prevalent than protein-coding genes. Nevertheless, only a few of the almost 60,000 lncRNAs have been characterized, and little is known about their diverse functions. BC200 is one lncRNA that has given insight into their specific role in translation regulation, and implications in various forms of cancer as well as Alzheimer's disease.
References
- ↑ "Human PubMed Reference:". National Center for Biotechnology Information, U.S. National Library of Medicine.
- ↑ "Entrez Gene: TCL1A upstream neural differentiation-associated RNA" . Retrieved 2014-02-24.
