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Turning back the clock on neural progenitors
Author(s) -
Carr Adrian R.,
Choksi Semil P.,
Brand Andrea H.
Publication year - 2004
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/bies.20077
Subject(s) - neuroblast , neural stem cell , progenitor cell , biology , progenitor , neural cell , transcription factor , neuroscience , microbiology and biotechnology , stem cell , cell , neurogenesis , genetics , gene
Abstract Drosophila neural progenitor cells, or neuroblasts, alter their transcriptional profile over time to produce different neural cell types. A recent paper by Pearson and Doe shows that older neuroblasts can be reprogrammed to behave like young neuroblasts, and to produce early neural cell types, simply by expressing the transcription factor, Hunchback.1 The authors show that competence to respond to Hunchback diminishes over time. Mani pulating neural progenitors in this way may have important implications for therapeutic uses of neural stem cells. BioEssays 26:711–714, 2004. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.