MicroRNAs and cell fate in cortical and retinal development

MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are involved in crucial steps of neurogenesis, neural differentiation, and neuronal plasticity. Here we review experimental evidence suggesting that miRNAs may regulate the histogenesis of the cerebral cortex and neural retina. Both cortical and retinal early progenitor cells are multipotent, that is, they can generate different types of cortical or retinal cells, respectively, in one lineage. In both cortical and retinal development, the precise timing of activation of cell fate transcription factors results in a stereotyped schedule of generation of the different types of neurons. Emerging evidence indicates that miRNAs may play an important role in regulating such temporal programing of neuronal differentiation. Neuronal subtypes of the cortex and retina exhibit distinct miRNA signatures, implying that miRNA codes may be used to specify different types of neurons. Interfering with global miRNA activity changes the ratio of the different types of neurons produced. In fact, there are examples of cell fate genes that are regulated at the translational level, both in retinogenesis and in corticogenesis. A model depicting how miRNAs might orchestrate both the type and the birth of different neurons is presented and discussed. Glossary. • Lineage: the temporally ordered cell progeny of an individual progenitor cell. • Specification: the (reversible) process by which a cell becomes capable of, and biased toward, a particular fate. • Commitment: the process by which cell fate is fully determined and can no longer be affected by external cues. • Potency: the entire complement of cells that a progenitor can ultimately produce. • Multipotency: the ability to give rise to more than one cell type. • Progenitor: a dividing cell that, in contrast to a stem cell, cannot proliferate indefinitely. • Antago-miR: modified antisense oligonucleotide that blocks the activity of a miRNA. • Heterochronic neuron: type of neurons that is generated at inappropriate times of development. • Neuron birth date: the time of the last mitosis of a neuronal cell.