Expression of a novel nuclear protein is correlated with brain development

Abstract

Publisher Summary The expression of a novel nuclear protein is correlated with brain development. The central nervous system (CNS) comprises an enormous array of neuronal phenotypes that originate and develop from the neural tube. Such a diverse cellular phenotypic development involves both positive and negative transcriptional regulation. Following cell genesis, neurons transmit the information by their electrophysiological potential and by activating second messenger signal cascades, which in turn recruit and activate constitutive transcriptional factors (CTFs) to produce inducible transcription factors (ITFs). These factors orchestrate transcriptional regulation in tune with neuronal responses. Several transcription factors involved in the early development of the CNS, particularly in neural induction, maturation, and specification stages of development, have been identified. These transcription factors share specific structural designs common to several eukaryotic DNA binding proteins (DBPs) and contribute to CNS development through their precise timing of their expression. The modular arrangement of DNA through promoter and enhancer elements and the interplay of specific nuclear factors at these DNA modules results in tissue- or cell-specific gene regulation.