Source: University of California, San Francisco
Date: March 26, 2008
Summary:
In the earliest days of brain development, the brain’s first cells – neuroepithelial stem cells -- divide continuously, producing a population of cells that eventually evolves into the various cells of the fully formed brain. Now, scientists have identified a gene that, in mice, is critical for these stem cells to divide correctly. Without it, they fail to divide, and die. The finding offers insight into the first steps of brain development, and may shed light, the scientists say, on a rare pediatric disorder known as lissencephaly, or “smooth brain” disease. The senior author of the study was Anthony Wynshaw-Boris, MD, PhD, the recently recruited chief of the Division of Genetics in the Department of Pediatrics, and the Institute for Human Genetics at the University of California, San Francisco.
