Notch-independent Her6 contributes to control of neural stem cell maintenance by shifting Notch signaling from lateral inhibition towards lateral induction mode
The growing brain faces the challenge to establish neural stem cell (NSC) populations that accomplish both stable NSC maintenance and dynamic generation of progenitors. Lineage-specific scRNA-seq and time series transcriptome analyses upon overexpression of Notch signaling components in the larval zebrafish brain reveal differential contributions of Notch signaling and Notch-independent Her6, a…
Zebrafish brain research uncovers a crucial role for Her6 in regulating neural stem cell (NSC) maintenance and generation of progenitors. Using lineage-specific scRNA-seq and time series transcriptome analyses, scientists discovered that Her6, a HES1 homolog, independently contributes to NSC regulation alongside Notch signaling.
The study found that Her6 and Notch signaling regulate cell cycle genes to control G0/G1 or G2 exit, promoting quiescence. When Her6 and Notch activity work together, they can shift Notch signaling from a lateral inhibition mode driven by Delta and Jagged to a lateral induction mode mediated by Jagged-Notch3. This shift enables Her6 to help maintain persistent NSC patches in ventricular compartments where neurogenesis occurs continuously.
Additionally, Her6-dependent lateral induction establishes coherent populations of long-term NSCs in active proliferation zones. In summary, Her6 integrates cell-autonomous lineage-based information and non-autonomous self-organization of neural proliferation zones, playing a pivotal role in balancing NSC maintenance and progenitor generation in the developing brain.
Written by urgent.news from bioRxiv's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
