Downregulation of CDC25C in NPCs Disturbed Cortical Neurogenesis.

Cell division regulators play a vital role in neural progenitor cell (NPC) proliferation and differentiation. Cell division cycle 25C (CDC25C) is a member of the CDC25 family of phosphatases which positively regulate cell division by activating cyclin-dependent protein kinases (CDKs). However, mice with the gene knocked out were shown to be viable and lacked the apparent phenotype due to genetic compensation by and/or . Here, we investigate the function of in developing rat brains by knocking down in NPCs using in utero electroporation. Our results indicate that plays an essential role in maintaining the proliferative state of NPCs during cortical development. The knockdown of causes early cell cycle exit and the premature differentiation of NPCs. Our study uncovers a novel role of CDC25C in NPC division and cell fate determination. In addition, our study presents a functional approach to studying the role of genes, which elicit genetic compensation with knockout, in cortical neurogenesis by knocking down in vivo.