No rest for REST: REST/NRSF regulation of neurogenesis

Epigenetic strategies control the orderly acquisition and maintenance of neuronal traits. A complex network of transcriptional repressors and co-repressors mediates gene specificity for these strategies. In this issue of Cell, a study by Ballas and coworkers (Ballas et al., 2005) provides insight into the early lineage commitment events during neurogenesis. This study demonstrates that regulation of the REST/NRSF transcriptional repressor plays a fundamental role in the progression of pluripotent cells to lineage-restricted neural progenitors.