Fate determination of cerebral cortical GABAergic interneurons and their derivation from stem cells

Cortical GABAergic interneurons modulate cortical excitation, and their dysfunction is implicated in a multitude of neuropsychiatric disorders including autism, schizophrenia and epilepsy. Consequently, the study of cortical interneuron development, and their derivation from stem cells for transplantation therapy, has garnered intense scientific interest. In this review, we discuss some of the molecular signals involved in cortical interneuron fate determination, and describe how this has informed the use of mouse and human embryonic stem cell biology in generating cortical interneurons in vitro. We highlight the tremendous progress that has been made recently using stem cells to derive cortical interneurons, as well as challenges that have arisen. This article is part of a Special Issue entitled SI:StemsCellsinPsychiatry.