Opportunities lost and gained: Changes in progenitor competence during nervous system development

During development of the central nervous system, a small pool of stem cells and progenitors generate the vast neural diversity required for neural circuit formation and behavior. Neural stem and progenitor cells often generate different progeny in response to the same signaling cue (e.g. Notch or Hedgehog), including no response at all. How does stem cell competence to respond to signaling cues change over time? Recently, epigenetics particularly chromatin remodeling - has emerged as a powerful mechanism to control stem cell competence. Here we review recent Drosophila and vertebrate literature describing the effect of epigenetic changes on neural stem cell competence.