Role of the imprinted allele of the Cdkn1c gene in mouse neocortical development.

Imprinted genes are expressed from only one allele in a parent of origin-specific manner. The cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitor p57 is encoded by an imprinted gene Cdkn1c, with the paternal allele being silenced. The possible expression and function of the paternal allele of Cdkn1c have remained little studied, however.

Slowly dividing neural progenitors are an embryonic origin of adult neural stem cells.

The mechanism by which adult neural stem cells (NSCs) are established during development is unclear. In this study, analysis of cell cycle progression by examining retention of a histone 2B (H2B)-GFP fusion protein revealed that, in a subset of mouse embryonic neural progenitor cells (NPCs), the cell cycle slows between embryonic day (E) 13.5 and E15.