Microcephaly is a rare, yet devastating, neurodevelopmental condition caused by genetic or environmental insults, such as the Zika virus infection. Microcephaly manifests with a severely reduced head circumference. Among the known heritable microcephaly genes, a significant proportion are annotated with centrosome-related ontologies. Centrosomes are microtubule-organizing centers, and they play fundamental roles in the proliferation of the neuronal progenitors, the neural stem cells (NSCs), which undergo repeated rounds of asymmetric cell division to drive neurogenesis and brain development. Many of the genes, pathways, and developmental paradigms that dictate NSC development in humans are conserved in Drosophila melanogaster. As such, studies of Drosophila NSCs lend invaluable insights into centrosome function within NSCs and help inform the pathophysiology of human microcephaly. This mini-review will briefly survey causative links between deregulated centrosome functions and microcephaly with particular emphasis on insights learned from Drosophila NSCs.
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October 2020
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Cover Image
Cover Image
Centrosomes are microtubule-organizing centres required for the asymmetric division of neural stem cells, which support neurodevelopment, as discussed in a mini-review by Robinson and colleagues (pages 2101–2115) In the cover image, microtubules are shown in yellow and neural stem cells (aPKC) are magenta. Image provided by Dorothy Lerit.
Review Article|
September 08 2020
Understanding microcephaly through the study of centrosome regulation in Drosophila neural stem cells
Beverly V. Robinson;
Beverly V. Robinson
Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, U.S.A
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Victor Faundez;
Victor Faundez
Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, U.S.A
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Dorothy A. Lerit
Department of Cell Biology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA 30322, U.S.A
Correspondence: Dorothy A. Lerit (dlerit@emory.edu)
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Publisher: Portland Press Ltd
Received:
June 14 2020
Revision Received:
August 07 2020
Accepted:
August 11 2020
Online ISSN: 1470-8752
Print ISSN: 0300-5127
© 2020 The Author(s). Published by Portland Press Limited on behalf of the Biochemical Society
2020
Biochem Soc Trans (2020) 48 (5): 2101–2115.
Article history
Received:
June 14 2020
Revision Received:
August 07 2020
Accepted:
August 11 2020
Citation
Beverly V. Robinson, Victor Faundez, Dorothy A. Lerit; Understanding microcephaly through the study of centrosome regulation in Drosophila neural stem cells. Biochem Soc Trans 30 October 2020; 48 (5): 2101–2115. doi: https://doi.org/10.1042/BST20200261
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