Epigenetic processes orchestrate neuronal migration

Neurobiologists at the Friedrich Miescher Institute for Biomedical Research (FMI) are the first to show that directional migration of neurons during brain development is controlled through epigenetic processes. In an elaborate study bridging epigenetics and neurobiology, the scientists found that the migratory pattern is orchestrated through epigenetic regulation of genes within neurons and spatial signals in the environment. As the foundation for our mind is laid, 100 billion cells are formed and appropriately connected in the brain. Despite the huge number of cells, no aspect of this process is left entirely to chance. Neurons divide, take on defined identities, migrate to the correct nodes in the network and send out their connecting axons along predefined paths to make with specific target neurons. The blueprint for these arrangements is encoded in the genome. However, how coordinated transcription of genes is finely tuned to achieve the precision of these processes is not yet clear.