Department of Developmental Biology, Graduate School of Medicine, Chiba University, Chiba, Japan.
Adv Exp Med Biol. 2020;1218:93-101. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-34436-8_6.
Notch signaling is required for maintaining neural stem cells (NSCs) in the developing brain. NSCs have potential to give rise to many neuronal types in the early telencephalon, and the potential decreases as embryonic development proceeds. Nepro, which encodes a unique nucleolar protein and is activated downstream of Notch, is essential for maintaining NSCs in the early telencephalon. Nepro is also expressed at basal levels and required for maintaining the preimplantation embryo, by repressing mitochondria-associated p53 apoptotic signaling. Notch signaling also controls dendritic complexity in mitral cells, major projection neurons in the olfactory bulb, showing that many steps of neural development involve Notch signaling.
Notch 信号通路对于维持大脑发育过程中的神经干细胞（NSC）至关重要。NSC 具有分化为早期端脑多种神经元类型的潜能，而这种潜能会随着胚胎发育的进行而逐渐降低。Nepro 编码一种独特的核仁蛋白，是 Notch 信号通路的下游激活因子，对于维持早期端脑的 NSC 至关重要。Nepro 也在基础水平表达，通过抑制与线粒体相关的 p53 凋亡信号来维持着床前胚胎。Notch 信号通路还控制着嗅球中主要投射神经元——僧帽细胞的树突复杂性，这表明许多神经发育过程都涉及 Notch 信号通路。
