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Deconstructing cell determination: proneural genes and neuronal identity
Author(s) -
Brunet JeanFrançois,
Ghysen Alain
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
bioessays
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.175
H-Index - 184
eISSN - 1521-1878
pISSN - 0265-9247
DOI - 10.1002/(sici)1521-1878(199904)21:4<313::aid-bies7>3.0.co;2-c
Subject(s) - biology , neurogenesis , proneural genes , gene , phenotype , neural cell , vertebrate , neural development , neuroscience , genetics , evolutionary biology , cell , gene expression
Vertebrates express scores of bHLH proteins during neural development. Earlier studies inspired by the established role of “proneural” genes in fly neurogenesis, as well as by the vertebrate bHLH myogenic program, focused on the reconstruction of bHLH gene cascades, which are thought to control successive steps leading to neuronal differentiation. Little attention has been paid thus far to the relationship between the diversity of neural bHLH genes and the diversity of neuronal phenotypes. This article reviews recent evidence that, akin to their fly counterparts, vertebrate neural bHLH genes probably confer not only “generic” neuronal properties, but also neuronal type‐specific properties, inextricably linking neural determination and the specification of neuronal identity. We also speculate on the relations between positional information and gene activity, and on the evolutionary significance of the diversity of bHLH genes. BioEssays 21:313–318, 1999. © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.