Changing fates on the road to neuronal diversity.
One of the longstanding goals of neurobiologists is to describe, in molecular terms, how a neural progenitor cell (NPC) can generate an ordered series of uniquely fated neurons and glia. Recent studies reveal that many, or all, neural-subtype identities can be linked to sequentially changing regulatory programs within NPCs. Two new studies, in this issue of Developmental Cell, provide novel insights into the molecular details of how Drosophila NPCs transition from one offspring identity program to the next.
Odenwald
Ward F
WF
Neural Cell-Fate Determinants Section, National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, National Institutes of Health, 9000 Rockville Pike, MD 20892, USA.
D000818:Animals; D002454:Cell Differentiation; D004330:Drosophila / Q000166:cytology / Q000196:embryology / Q000235:genetics; D006801:Humans; D009154:Mutation; D009457:Neuroglia / Q000166:cytology; D009474:Neurons / Q000166:cytology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology