Length of cell cycle in neural development

Neural development of mammals generates a series of morphological and functional alterations in neural precursors. The precursors change the length of cell cycle in the process. Importantly, the changes are related to cell fate determination. Cellular and environmental factors have been elucidated including cyclin complex, notch signal pathway, proneural gene target proteins, microtubule and motor proteins. In the cell-cycle length hypothesis, cell cycle length could influence the accumulation of cell fate determinants in precursors, which decides the final cell fate of daughter cells. This study summarizes recent advances in the field.