Several transcription factors that direct neuronal morphogenesis in postmitotic neurons also have roles in neuron specification. Although dissociating such distinct roles may not always be a

simple task, transcriptional profiling coupled with ChIP-Seq analyses may allow for the characterization of targetomes associated with specific developmental programs. The complexity of transcriptional regulation is vast. Transcription factors are controlled by posttranslational modifications, which lead to changes in protein stability, localization, activity, or interaction partners. These modifications may not simply selleckchem stimulate or inhibit transcriptional activity of the factor but may induce a switch in the mode of a transcription factor’s function between activator and repressor. Additionally, association with epigenetic

regulators, including chromatin remodeling complexes, may induce longer lasting or widespread changes in gene expression. Finally, transcription factors often regulate the expression of other transcription factors creating complex cascades. How and to what extent these cascades may be involved in other aspects of neuronal morphogenesis is a task for future studies. Finally, studies of transcriptional regulation offer the basis for elucidation of key mechanisms of brain development as well as serve the foundation for http://www.selleckchem.com/products/epacadostat-incb024360.html a better understanding of the molecular basis of developmental disorders of the brain in which deregulation of neuronal morphogenesis and connectivity plays a prominent role (Kaufmann and Moser, 2000, McManus and Golden, 2005, Penzes et al., 2011, Schwartzkroin and Walsh, 2000 and Sisodiya, 2004). Mutations in several

transcriptional regulators have been implicated in diverse array of neurodevelopmental disorders from mental retardation and autism spectrum disorders to inherited ataxias to epilepsy syndromes (Grinberg and Millen, 2005, Gutierrez-Delicado and Serratosa, 2004, Helmlinger et al., 2006, Hong et al., 2005 and Orr, 2010). Understanding the normal functions of these transcriptional regulators in neuronal below morphogenesis and connectivity will be a major first step toward understanding the pathogenesis of these disorders. We thank members of the Bonni laboratory, in particular Luis Mejía, Yoshiho Ikeuchi, and Chi Zhang, for helpful discussions and critical reading of the manuscript. The authors are supported by NIH grant NS041021 (A.B.) and the Albert J. Ryan Foundation (L.T.U.). “
“In the olfactory bulb, odors activate stereotyped and distinct sets of glomeruli, and the output of mitral/tufted (M/T) cells belonging to individual glomeruli encodes odorant molecular features (Rubin and Katz, 1999, Soucy et al., 2009, Uchida et al., 2000 and Wachowiak and Cohen, 2001).