Epigenetic regulation in neural crest development

Abstract

The neural crest is a migratory and multipotent cell population that plays a crucial many aspects of embryonic development. In all vertebrate embryos, these cells emerge from the dorsal neural tube then migrate long distances to different regions of the body, where they contribute to formation of many cell types and structures. These include much of the peripheral nervous system, craniofacial skeleton, smooth muscle, and pigmentation of the skin. The best-studied regulatory events guiding neural crest development are mediated by transcription factors and signaling molecules. In recent years, however, growing evidence supports an important role for epigenetic regulation as an additional mechanism for controlling the timing and level of gene expression at different stages of neural crest development. Here, we summarize the process of neural crest formation, with focus on the role of epigenetic regulation in neural crest specification, migration, and differentiation as well as in neural crest related birth defects and diseases.

Finding Missing Proteins from the Epigenetically Manipulated Human Cell with Stringent Quality Criteria

“…These factors include: (1) proteins are expressed only in unusual organs or cell types, which can be improved by analyzing the plasma, 10−12 more organs, and cell types; 13−15 (2) proteins are either of low abundance or unsuitable for MS analyses, which can be tackled by improved MS instruments, multiple proteolytic digestion, 16,17 and focusing on subcellular compartments such as detergent-insoluble proteins; 18 and (3) proteins are expressed only in specific or early developmental stages. 19,20 The last problem brought the epigenetic regulation to our attention, as numerous developmental stage specific genes were often switched off due to the DNA−histone association. In addition, these epigenetic changes have been correlated to aging and cancer phenotypes, 21 and epigenetic regulation of the genome has emerged as an attractive new strategy for therapeutic intervention.…”

The role of long noncoding RNAs in cancer metastasis

“…MIAT interacts with a number of epigenetic modifiers in neuronal crest cells including PRC1/2 and ZEB1 that when altered results in the modified migratory capacities of these cell lines [172] . MIAT is also disrupted in a number of cancer cell lines, and is expressed at significantly lower levels in grade I-II breast tumors, as compared to those considered high grade III-IV tumors [110] .…”

Toward a better understanding of enteric gliogenesis

“…Indeed, epigenetic regulation is known to be important for multiple aspects of NCC development including glial differentiation. 46 For instance, HDAC1/2 activity has been shown to be essential for the differentiation of NCCs into Schwann cells and satellite glia, in part through direct activation of Mpz expression. 47 Furthermore, the ZEB2 transcription factor has been shown to be a critical regulator of Schwann cell maturation through HDAC/NuRD-mediated repression of genes that inhibit maturation such as Hey2, Sox2 and Ednrb.…”