Regulation of Gene Expression in Neural Stem Cell Differentiation and Self-Renewal

Stem cells are characterized by two fundamental properties, self-renewal and differentiation. Self-renewal is anintegration of proliferation control with the maintenance of an undifferentiated state. Self-renewal trait isregulated by the dynamic process between transcription factors, epigenetic control, micro RNA regulators, andcell-extrinsic signals from the niche of stem cells. The other feature of stem cells is puissance of differentiation tovarious cell types. Neural stem cells are able to differentiate to neuron, glial cell and oligodendrocyte. Theprocess of oligodendrocyte differentiation also is regulated by an interaction between a genetic and an epigeneticprogram. Recent studies manifest the key role of histone modifications in epigenetic regulation of geneexpression during oligodendrocyte development. Moreover retinoic acid pathway also has been shown in stemcell differentiation toward neurons. Detection of signaling cascades and regulatory networks of self-renewal anddifferentiation of neural stem cells improve new therapeutic methods for neural diseases such as brain injuriesand brain tumors as well as neurodegenerative disease like Huntington, Alzheimer, Parkinson and demyelinationdisease such as multiple sclerosis. Moreover, understanding of these pathways leads to specific and stabledifferentiation of neural stem cells toward functional oligodendrocyte for alternative therapy.

Keywords:

Neural Stem Cell , Gene Expression , Differentiation , Self-Renewal