Pj. Scotting et M. Rex, TRANSCRIPTION FACTORS IN EARLY DEVELOPMENT OF THE CENTRAL-NERVOUS-SYSTEM, Neuropathology and applied neurobiology, 22(6), 1996, pp. 469-481
In studies of the central nervous system (CNS) few areas have progress
ed faster than the study of transcription factors and their role in co
ntrolling gene expression during development. Evidence for the pivotal
roles of these factors in the formation of the CNS is reviewed; from
neural induction to the maturation of neurons and the specification of
cells according to their position within the CNS. In all of these pro
cesses, epigenetic factors affect the cells' developmental fate but it
is transcription factors within the cells which function both to deco
de these incoming messages and then to effect changes in the expressio
n of other genes, Soluble factors such as retinoic acid and the produc
ts of the Noggin and Sonic hedgehog genes induce changes in families o
f transcription factors such as the Hox, Sos, Pas and Port gene produc
ts and these alter the expression of banks of downstream genes thereby
controlling the developmental fate of those cells, Recent advances in
understanding of the molecular events underlying normal neurogenesis
might now lead to a clearer understanding of the molecular abnormaliti
es underlying several developmental disorders of the CNS.