Rodrigo Neves Romcy-Pereira
Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Norte – Natal, Brasil.
Instituto do Cérebro.
LECTURE: Mapping Molecular Gene Cascades in Epilepsy and Autism.
Dysfunctions in the establishment of proper inhibitory circuits have been associated to several brain disorders such as autism, epilepsy, and schizophrenia.
The combination of genetic fate mapping and cell transplantation studies have further revealed the contribution of environmental cues to the post-mitotic stages of interneuron specification thought to occur during migration, lamination, and establishment of synaptic contacts.
In this review, therefore, Rodrigo Romcy-Pereira will discuss the mechanisms responsible for generating the diversity of GABAergic neurons during development and the interactions between environmental signals (extrinsic cues) and genetic programs (intrinsic factors) required to determine early (molecular) and late (molecular plus functional) cell identity, which will combine a proper laminar integration and functional maturation into specific inhibitory circuits.