Gene Expression Regulation: Chromatin Modification in the CNS

The cellular and molecular mechanisms that control neural stem cell lineage decisions during development and throughout adulthood remain a central challenge. Epigenetic mechanisms and chromatin remodeling have emerged to play fundamental roles in gene regulation. Studies have implicated chromatin structure as an active mediator underlying brain function, neural cell growth and differentiation, and plasticity. These epigenetic mechanisms include cell type-specific transcriptional regulators, histone modifications and chromatin remodeling enzymes, and small regulatory noncoding RNAs. Environmental signals that control growth and function in the brain act, at least in part, by interfacing with these diverse epigenetic mechanisms.