Ann Conkle
Apr 17, 2012

Neural stem cell regulator discovered

University of Colorado (CU) researchers have found that lack of a specific gene interrupts neural tube closure, a condition that can cause death or paralysis. "The neural tube is the beginning of the brain and spinal cord," said the study's lead investigator Lee Niswander, professor of pediatrics at the CU School of Medicine. "A defect in the mLin41 gene doesn't allow the tube to close because not enough neural progenitor cells are being made." The researchers discovered that the gene mLin41 in mice controls the extent of neural stem cell proliferation during the process of neural closure but not at the later stage of brain development. mLin41 works with small RNAs and RNA regulators that have never been investigated before in connection with neural tube formation.

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