Filamin a regulates neural progenitor proliferation and cortical size through Wee1-dependent Cdk1 phosphorylation.

ABSTRACT: Cytoskeleton-associated proteins play key roles not only in regulating cell morphology and migration but also in proliferation. Mutations in the cytoskeleton-associated gene filamin A (FlnA) cause the human disorder periventricular heterotopia (PH). PH is a disorder of neural stem cell development that is characterized by disruption of progenitors along the ventricular epithelium and subsequent formation of ectopic neuronal nodules. FlnA-dependent regulation of cytoskeletal dynamics is thought to direct neural progenitor migration and proliferation. Here we show that embryonic FlnA-null mice exhibited a reduction in brain size and decline in neural progenitor numbers over time. The drop in the progenitor population was not attributable to cell death or changes in premature differentiation,

SUBMITTER: Lian G 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3368379 | biostudies-literature | 2012 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature