Putting chromatin in its place: the pioneer factor N euro D 1 modulates chromatin state to drive cell fate decisions

Cell fate decisions require the deployment of distinct transcriptional programmes—how this is controlled and orchestrated is a key question from basic developmental biology to regenerative medicine. In this issue of The EMBO Journal , Pataskar and Jung et al (Pataskar et al , 2015) demonstrate how the transcription factor NeuroD1 acts genome‐wide to elicit a specific neurogenic programme, including differentiation and migration. Much of that activity is due to NeuroD1 acting as a pioneer factor. NeuroD1 is able to bind its targets within repressive chromatin and can induce a more open chromatin state amenable to cell type‐specific regulation.