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First published online April 3, 2008

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Nestin' instincts in NP cells

During brain development, neural progenitor (NP) cells extend radial processes across the thickening brain wall to form a scaffold for migrating neurons. The processes grow only during G1-S phase, and NP cells undergo mitosis before and after process extension. The intermediate-filament protein nestin is strongly expressed in NP cells, but does it have a role in coordinating morphological alteration with cell-cycle progression? On page 1204, Hideyuki Okano and colleagues analyse the expression of Nes, the gene that encodes nestin, in NP cells in embryonic mouse brains. To enable the time-resolved measurement of Nes expression at different cell-cycle stages, the authors generate a transgenic mouse line in which a Nes enhancer controls the expression of dVenus, a fluorescent protein that is targeted for degradation. The expression of nestin, the authors show, is high during G1-S phase but is downregulated during G2-M phase. Moreover, strong Nes expression correlates with the elongation of radial processes. The authors present evidence that the transcription factor Brn2 – which is phosphorylated during G2-M phase and therefore has a lower affinity for the Nes core enhancer region – modulates Nes expression. These results suggest that nestin has a role in the coordination of cell-cycle progression and radial-process formation in NP cells.

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Cell-cycle-specific nestin expression coordinates with morphological changes in embryonic cortical neural progenitors

Takehiko Sunabori, Akinori Tokunaga, Takeharu Nagai, Kazunobu Sawamoto, Masaru Okabe, Atsushi Miyawaki, Yumi Matsuzaki, Takaki Miyata, and Hideyuki Okano
JCS 2008 121: 1204-1212. [Abstract] [Full Text]  

This Article Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Related articles in JCS Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?