First published online November 18, 2003
Journal of Cell Science 116, e2404 (2003)
Copyright © 2003 The Company of Biologists Limited
A fateful change in cell-cycle length
Neuroepithelial cells are the progenitors for all the neurons in the mammalian central nervous system. At the onset of neurogenesis, the G1 phase of the cell cycle in neuroepithelial cells lengthens, but is this a cause or an effect of neurogenesis? To find out, Federico Calegari and Wieland Huttner treated 9.5-day mouse embryos in culture with olomoucine, an inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases that lengthens the G1 phase of the cell cycle (see p. 4947). In these cultures, TIS21, a marker for neuroepithelial cells that have switched from proliferative to neuron-generating divisions, was expressed prematurely and neurons were made earlier than expected. Because the only observable effect of olomoucine in these cultures was a lengthening of the cell cycle by about two hours, the researchers conclude that this change is sufficient to induce neuroepithelial cell differentiation. They therefore propose a model whereby cell-cycle length can be linked to the effects of cell-fate determinants.
Related articles in JCS:
- An inhibition of cyclin-dependent kinases that lengthens, but does not arrest, neuroepithelial cell cycle induces premature neurogenesis
- Federico Calegari and Wieland B. Huttner
JCS 2003 116: 4947-4955.
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