- Email: [email protected]
MoD Special Issue on molecular and cellular bases of neural development
MECHANISMS OF DEVELOPMENT
130 (2013) 323
Available at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/modo
MoD Special Issue on molecular and cellular bases of neural development Ute Volbehr *, Joachim Wittbrodt Centre for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg, Germany
The current issue presents reviews covering a wide spectrum of developmental neurobiology, from simple to complex, from detailed to global. These reviews shed light on the results of 12 years of interdisciplinary research supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in a Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) dealing with ‘‘Molecular and cellular bases of neural development’’. The reviews reflect the concept of the CRC, which had been initiated when developmental neurobiology was just emerging as a discipline. The overarching aim of all projects involved was a contextual understanding of the molecular principles governing the development of the nervous system, both on an evolutionary as well as on the individual scale. In the reviews presented here, this is addressed in studies to uncover genetic and epigenetic determinants of early neural development. Special emphasis is given to the role of extrinsic and intrinsic determinants in the nervous system, e.g. wnt and TGF beta signaling, as well as direct cell–cell signaling mechanisms and their role in pattern formation. The context of a broad spectrum of model systems allowed identification of unifying themes as well as species-specific solutions in the development of the nervous system. From early morphogenetic events, cell fate determination and patterning, the topics range to the molecular mechanisms governing the establishment of functional circuits in the developing nervous system. Neuroprotection and adult neural stem cells
play a particular role in the development and regeneration of the nervous system long after individual development has been completed. Questions are addressed in systems with a wide spectrum of cellular complexity ranging from few neuronal stem cells or neuromuscular junctions to organs as complex as the eye or the olfactory system. The reviews of this special issue present a current overview of the field of developmental neurobiology, and feature recent developments and pathways that may be setting new trends or highlight the interesting diversity of developmental mechanisms. With the wide range of model systems from fish to chicken, rodents and humans and the comparative power of state-of-the-art developmental neurobiology, this issue provides an entry point into addressing one of the remaining challenges for the future: understanding the evolution of nervous system development with molecular resolution. We would like to sincerely thank all authors who have contributed to this special issue, and in particular David Wilkinson and the Editorial Team of Mechanisms of Development for their excellent work realizing this special issue on neural development. We are especially grateful for the generous financial support of the CRC 488 ‘Molecular and cellular bases of neural development’ by the German Research Foundation (DFG), which made 12 years of exciting and successful research possible.
* Corresponding author. 0925-4773/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mod.2013.05.003
130 (2013) 323
Available at www.sciencedirect.com
journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/modo
MoD Special Issue on molecular and cellular bases of neural development Ute Volbehr *, Joachim Wittbrodt Centre for Organismal Studies, Heidelberg, Germany
The current issue presents reviews covering a wide spectrum of developmental neurobiology, from simple to complex, from detailed to global. These reviews shed light on the results of 12 years of interdisciplinary research supported by the German Research Foundation (DFG) in a Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) dealing with ‘‘Molecular and cellular bases of neural development’’. The reviews reflect the concept of the CRC, which had been initiated when developmental neurobiology was just emerging as a discipline. The overarching aim of all projects involved was a contextual understanding of the molecular principles governing the development of the nervous system, both on an evolutionary as well as on the individual scale. In the reviews presented here, this is addressed in studies to uncover genetic and epigenetic determinants of early neural development. Special emphasis is given to the role of extrinsic and intrinsic determinants in the nervous system, e.g. wnt and TGF beta signaling, as well as direct cell–cell signaling mechanisms and their role in pattern formation. The context of a broad spectrum of model systems allowed identification of unifying themes as well as species-specific solutions in the development of the nervous system. From early morphogenetic events, cell fate determination and patterning, the topics range to the molecular mechanisms governing the establishment of functional circuits in the developing nervous system. Neuroprotection and adult neural stem cells
play a particular role in the development and regeneration of the nervous system long after individual development has been completed. Questions are addressed in systems with a wide spectrum of cellular complexity ranging from few neuronal stem cells or neuromuscular junctions to organs as complex as the eye or the olfactory system. The reviews of this special issue present a current overview of the field of developmental neurobiology, and feature recent developments and pathways that may be setting new trends or highlight the interesting diversity of developmental mechanisms. With the wide range of model systems from fish to chicken, rodents and humans and the comparative power of state-of-the-art developmental neurobiology, this issue provides an entry point into addressing one of the remaining challenges for the future: understanding the evolution of nervous system development with molecular resolution. We would like to sincerely thank all authors who have contributed to this special issue, and in particular David Wilkinson and the Editorial Team of Mechanisms of Development for their excellent work realizing this special issue on neural development. We are especially grateful for the generous financial support of the CRC 488 ‘Molecular and cellular bases of neural development’ by the German Research Foundation (DFG), which made 12 years of exciting and successful research possible.
* Corresponding author. 0925-4773/$ - see front matter Ó 2013 Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.mod.2013.05.003