Normal neurodevelopment relies on intricate signaling pathways that balance neural stem cell (NSC) self-renewal, maturation, and survival. Disruptions lead to neurodevelopmental disorders, including microcephaly. Here, we implicate the inhibition of NSC senescence as a mechanism underlying neurogenesis and corticogenesis. We report that the receptor for activated C kinase (Rack1), a family member of WD40-repeat (WDR) proteins, is highly enriched in NSCs. Deletion of Rack1 in developing cortical progenitors leads to a microcephaly phenotype. Strikingly, the absence of Rack1 decreases neurogenesis and promotes a cellular senescence phenotype in NSCs. Mechanistically, the senescence-related p21 signaling pathway is dramatically activated in Rack1 null NSCs, and removal of p21 significantly rescues the Rack1-knockout phenotype in vivo. Finally, Rack1 directly interacts with Smad3 to suppress the activation of transforming growth factor (TGF)-β/Smad signaling pathway, which plays a critical role in p21-mediated senescence. Our data implicate Rack1-driven inhibition of p21-induced NSC senescence as a critical mechanism behind normal cortical development.
Rack1 is essential for corticogenesis by preventing p21-dependent senescence in neural stem cells.
Qian Zhu,Liping Chen,Ying Li,Minghe Huang,J. Shao,Shen Li,Juanxian Cheng,Haihong Yang,Yan Wu,Jiyan Zhang,Jiannan Feng,M. Fan,Haitao Wu
Published 2021 in Cell Reports
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- Publication year
2021
- Venue
Cell Reports
- Publication date
2021-08-31
- Fields of study
Biology, Medicine
- Identifiers
- External record
- Source metadata
Semantic Scholar, PubMed
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