Retinoic Acid Signaling induces Ets Repressor proteins to promote primary neurogenesis

University Of California-Irvine, Irvine CA

Investigators

Abstract

Cells in developing neural tissue demonstrate an exquisite balance between proliferation (cell growth/division) and differentiation (the specialization of cells into mature neurons). Retinoic acid, an important molecule derived from Vitamin A, is a critical participant in inhibiting cell proliferation and encouraging differentiation. How retinoic acid controls this process to promote the development of mature neurons is not well understood. The Blumberg laboratory identified a gene named ETS2 Repressor Factor (Erf) that plays a key role in neural development. Erf expression is controlled by retinoic acid and loss of retinoic acid or Erf inhibits the formation of neurons. To test how Erf functions downstream of retinoic acid, the Blumberg laboratory will use a molecular approach to inhibit or increase the function of Erf in early embryos and study the expression of important genes involved in the proliferation of neural precursors and in the differentiation of neurons. They expect to identify the molecular pathway through which retinoic acid, Erf and its target genes control the switch between proliferation and differentiation in neural tissue. Unraveling this genetic program and the molecular interactions required for it to function will provide important and broadly applicable details about the proliferation-differentiation switch. This will greatly increase the understanding of how development works and, in particular, how stem cells decide to stop dividing and differentiate into various mature cell types. The broader impacts of this research are in educating and training the next generation of scientists (including women and underrepresented groups) and in disseminating the results of Federally funded science broadly. Furthermore, these studies will benefit society in general by pushing back the frontiers of knowledge regarding a fundamentally important but poorly understood process in Biology.