There is no author summary for this article yet. Authors can add summaries to their articles on ScienceOpen to make them more accessible to a non-specialist audience.
Abstract
During neocortical development, neural precursor cells (NPCs, or neural stem cells)
produce neurons first and astrocytes later. Although the timing of the fate switch
from neurogenic to astrogenic is critical for determining the number of neurons, the
mechanisms are not fully understood. Here, we show that the polycomb group complex
(PcG) restricts neurogenic competence of NPCs and promotes the transition of NPC fate
from neurogenic to astrogenic. Inactivation of PcG by knockout of the Ring1B or Ezh2
gene or Eed knockdown prolonged the neurogenic phase of NPCs and delayed the onset
of the astrogenic phase. Moreover, PcG was found to repress the promoter of the proneural
gene neurogenin1 in a developmental-stage-dependent manner. These results demonstrate
a role of PcG: the temporal regulation of NPC fate.