Epigenetic landscape and miRNA involvement during neural crest development

Abstract

The neural crest (NC) is a multipotent, migratory cell population that arises from the dorsal neural fold of vertebrate embryos. NC cells migrate extensively and differentiate into a variety of tissues, including melanocytes, bone, and cartilage of the craniofacial skeleton, peripheral and enteric neurons, glia, and smooth muscle and endocrine cells. For several years, the gene regulatory network that orchestrates NC cells development has been extensively studied. However, we have recently begun to understand that epigenetic and posttranscriptional regulation, such as miRNAs, plays important roles in NC development. In this review, we focused on some of the most recent findings on chromatin-dependent mechanisms and miRNAs regulation during vertebrate NC cells development. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.