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Epigenetic choreographers of neurogenesis in the adult mammalian brain

Nature Neuroscience volume 13, pages 1338–1344 (2010)Cite this article

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Abstract

Epigenetic mechanisms regulate cell differentiation during embryonic development and also serve as important interfaces between genes and the environment in adulthood. Neurogenesis in adults, which generates functional neural cell types from adult neural stem cells, is dynamically regulated by both intrinsic state-specific cell differentiation cues and extrinsic neural niche signals. Epigenetic regulation by DNA and histone modifiers, non-coding RNAs and other self-sustained mechanisms can lead to relatively long-lasting biological effects and maintain functional neurogenesis throughout life in discrete regions of the mammalian brain. Here, we review recent evidence that epigenetic mechanisms carry out diverse roles in regulating specific aspects of adult neurogenesis and highlight the implications of such epigenetic regulation for neural plasticity and disorders.

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Figure 1: Basic modes of epigenetic regulation implicated in adult neurogenesis.
Figure 2: Classic and emerging technologies for epigenetic analysis of adult neurogenesis.
Figure 3: Major epigenetic regulators of adult neurogenesis.

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Acknowledgements

We thank M.L. Gage and K. Christian for comments on the manuscript and J. Simon for illustrations. This work was supported by the National Institutes of Health grants NS048271 and HD069184 (G.-l.M.), MH088485 and MH090258 (F.H.G.), and AG024984, NS047344 and MH087874 (H.S.), the Brain Science Institute at Johns Hopkins and National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression (G.-l.M.), the Mathers Foundation, the Lookout Fund and the J.S. McDonnell Foundation (F.H.G.), a Helen Hay Whitney Foundation postdoctoral fellowship (D.K.M.), and the Dr. Richard and Mavis Fowler and the Foundation for Advanced Research in the Medical Sciences Fellowship (J.U.G.).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA

    Dengke K Ma

  2. Laboratory of Genetics, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, California, USA

    Maria Carolina Marchetto & Fred H Gage

  3. Institute for Cell Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Junjie U Guo, Guo-li Ming & Hongjun Song

  4. The Solomon Snyder Department of Neuroscience, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Junjie U Guo, Guo-li Ming & Hongjun Song

  5. Department of Neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA

    Guo-li Ming & Hongjun Song

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  1. Dengke K Ma
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Correspondence to Hongjun Song.

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Ma, D., Marchetto, M., Guo, J. et al. Epigenetic choreographers of neurogenesis in the adult mammalian brain. Nat Neurosci 13, 1338–1344 (2010). https://doi.org/10.1038/nn.2672

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