Neurogenesis and Gliogenesis Flashcards
where do neural progenitors come from?
the neuroectoderm in the neural plate
where do neural progenitors proliferate?
in the neural tube
what are the different ways in which neural progenitors can divide?
symmetric division: both daughter cells have the same fate
asymmetricL each daughter has a specific, different fate
what organism has been used to look at neurogenesis?
the drosophila
how is neural competence initially acquired within th eneuroectoderm?
a group of cells initially acquires neural competence within pro neural clusters which respond to the columnar, segmental patterning that accord within the fly embryo along the ventral portion
from the group of neural clusterd cells, how many will be give rise to a neuronal precursor?
just one, the neuroblast
what are the pro neural genes that give neural fate to the neuroblast?
achaete and scute
what re achieve and scute?
b-HLH transcription factors
what is the expression pattern within the neural clusters over time?
all the cells initially express achieve and scute but then only one, the neuroblast will eventually express it.
how can you view the neural clusters? how does the expression change over time?
you can do in situ for achaete and scute and you will see that initially many cells within a cluster express them but then eventually only one will
how did people go about finding the genes involved in the process by which only one neuroblast will give rise to the neural cell? what did they find?
people carried out forward genetics screens and looked for mutants that didn’t have these proneural clusters or had an enlarged nervous system due to the presence of too many neuroblasts - genes involved in lateral inhibition were involved
what is the process by which one neuroblast of the neural clusters expresses ac and sc and turns off the expression in the others?
lateral inhibition
what is lateral inhibition?
it is a process mediated by cell-cell communication. one cell accumulates higher levels of pro neural proteins and instructs the other adjacent cells to turn off pro neural gene expression
what is the oscillation- stabilise theory of lateral inhibition?
there are transcriptional oscillations that cause fluctuations which lead to an overall different tin one cell which allows it to dominate. the initial expression of the relative genes is present at a level 2 which is unstable (the cell ants to either be at expression levels 1 or 3) this is called a bistable switch that is orientated around 1 and 3. So a cell that becomes 3 will then tell the other cells to become 1
what are the 2 processes involved in breaking the symmetry in pro neural gene expression within the pro neural clusters?
a positive feedback loop of higher expression and a bistable switch
what pathway is implicated in lateral inhibition?
the notch signalling pathway.
how does the notch signalling pathway work?
delta is expressed in a cell which will bind to notch and cause notch to downregulate pro neural genes and then this will downregulate delta- results in one cell expressing delta and pro neural genes and the other expression notch and no pro neural genes
what is the pathway of delta notch in the lateral inhibition of neuroblast expression thought to be?
proneural genes become higher in one cells, this stimulates more delta in one cell causing increased notch activate in adjacent cells meaning that they downregulate delta
when does the first wave of neurogenesis occur in vertebrates?
at the neural plate stage
in vetebrates, where are pro neural genes expressed?
longitudinal domains in the neural plate called proneural fields
what are the pro neural fields?
the longitudinal domains in the neural plate that express pornerual genes
how can the refinement of the neuronal precursors within the neural fields be seen in vertebrates?
if you do in situ for the neural genes you see that their expression becomes refined in the proneural fields
how can you prove that notch is involved in lateral inhibition within the vertebrate?
you can find mutants that have knockouts for components of the notch signalling pathway and see that they have too many neuroblasts and then too many neurons- one such is mind bomb
what is a mutant that contains a mutation in the notch signalling pathway?
mindbomb- too many neurons due to too many neuroblasts and no lateral inhibition
how can you physically manipulate the notch signalling pathway to increase the signalling of notch and increase lateral inhibition?
you can inject mRNA for the NICD and you will see using in situ that there are less neuroblast and less pro neural gene expression
generally, list the three things that happen in order for neural progenitors to be formed?
- initial generation of pro neural clusters from neural epithelial cells
- notch isgnalling speicifes neural progenitors from pro neural clusters
- appears consistent between drosphila and zebrafish (verts)
what are the 3 stages in neuron differentiation in the fly?
- delimination
- asymmetric cell division
- differentiation
what is the process of elimination within the fly?
the neuroepithlium of the file neural tube is made from cells. These cells start to downregulate cadherins in the neuroblast and then the neuroblast migrates
why is asymmetric inheritance important in neurogenesis, what does it ensure?
it ensures that duringg a cell division of the neuroblast, the neuroblast maintains its dividing ability and phenotype as a neuroblast, and the daughter can become a GMC
along what axis do neuroblast migrate along?
they move away from the apical and migrate towards the basal end
how does the spindle change within the neuroblast during asymmetric division in flies?
the spindle changes orientation in order to facilitate the asymmetric inheritance which determines which daughter will be the neuroblast and which the GMC. The single changes from parallel to the apical basal axes to be being perpendicualr
what are the two steps in asymmetrical cell division?
- spindle change and asymmetric inheritance of cues
is the process that mediates asymmetrical division in flies (spindle change and asymmetric inheritance of components) conserved in vertebrates?
the single orientation does not have an affect
how was the role of spindle orientation in asymmetric division investigated in vertebrates?
a woman looked at whether the spindle orientation and the fates it gave rise to and she saw that the spindle can be parallel or perpendicular- it doesn’t bias one towards a certain fate .
how was it shown that the asymmetric cell fate is determined by inheritance of cues, but that the inheritance of cues is independent from spindle orientation in zebrafish?
a woman looked at the planes of division and found there was no correlation between this and fate. But then she looked at whether the inheritance of apical or basal cues was important and she did this by labelling the basal cues with GFP. She found that whichever cell inherited this when on to be the neuron and the one which has the basal projection stays as the progenitor and develops a new apical membrane.
how is the mouse asymmetric division process different to the zebrafish?
in the mouse it is the apical cell that becomes the progenitor, not the neuron.
what are the cell intrinsic and the cell extrinsic factors that determine cell fate?
intrinsic are transcription factors exrpressed by the precursor and extrinsic are signals present in the environment
what is the general role of the extrinsic and intrinsic signals within a neuronal precursor?
they determine the competence of the cell to give rise to a specific cell type.
how is cell fate determined in the fly for neuronal precursors?
from the neuroblast moving out the epithelium, each division gives rise to a different neuronal type. the expression profile of certain transcription factors determines the fate of the cell. The time at which the divison takes place and the TF being described determine the fate. As time goes on, the cell is cycling and tells us that cell cycling control is crucial to determining cell fate. This regulation occurs through internal cell cycle clock so internal factor dependent. But there are also glial factors which also signal and determine the fate. It is the interplay- very complex.
what is the role of the extrinsic factors in determining neuronal precursor cell fate?
Signals present in the environment (extrinsic factors) are essential to coordinate cell cycle control and fate determination