Vertebrate neural cell-fate determination: lessons from the retina.
Postmitotic neurons are produced from a pool of cycling progenitors in an orderly fashion during development. Studies of cell-fate determination in the vertebrate retina have uncovered several fundamental principles by which this is achieved. Most notably, a model for vertebrate cell-fate determination has been proposed that combines findings on the relative roles of extrinsic and intrinsic regulators in controlling cell-fate choices. At the heart of the model is the proposal that progenitors pass through intrinsically determined competence states, during which they are capable of giving rise to a limited subset of cell types under the influence of extrinsic signals.
Department of Genetics and Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Harvard Medical School, 200 Longwood Avenue, Boston, Massachusetts 02115, USA. livesey@rascal.med.harvard.edu
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D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D006801:Humans; D008565:Membrane Proteins / Q000378:metabolism*; D051880:Receptors, Notch; D012160:Retina / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*; D012165:Retinal Ganglion Cells / Q000378:metabolism; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D015533:Transcriptional Activation / Q000502:physiology*; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000254:growth & development / Q000378:metabolism*
D008565:Membrane Proteins; D051880:Receptors, Notch