From skin to nerve: flies, vertebrates and the first helix.
Vertebrate and invertebrate nervous tissue is derived from early embryonic ectoderm, which also gives rise to epidermal derivatives such as skin. Proneural basic helix-loop-helix (bHLH) transcription factors are the key players in the formation of peripheral nervous system (PNS) and central nervous system (CNS) from naïve ectoderm to differentiated postmitotic neurons. The comparative approach and the use of a wide range of animal models have led to increasingly comprehensive investigations of this issue in the last decade. This review will focus on current studies of neural development in vertebrate and invertebrate PNS and on understanding how the bHLH domain structure encodes multiple functions required for neural specification.
Quan
X-J
XJ
Laboratory of Neurogenetics, Department of Human Genetics, VIB and University of Leuven School of Medicine, 3000, Leuven, Belgium.
Hassan
B A
BA
D000595:Amino Acid Sequence; D000818:Animals; D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D004330:Drosophila / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics; D018257:Helix-Loop-Helix Motifs; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D017933:Peripheral Nervous System / Q000196:embryology*; D017434:Protein Structure, Tertiary; D012867:Skin / Q000196:embryology; D014157:Transcription Factors / Q000737:chemistry / Q000502:physiology*; D014714:Vertebrates / Q000196:embryology* / Q000235:genetics
D051792:Basic Helix-Loop-Helix Proteins; D004268:DNA-Binding Proteins; D014157:Transcription Factors