Transcriptional regulation in the neural lineage

The evolution of life can only be understood as the loom of more efficient ways to replicate genetic material. The development of intricate processes of gene regulation control has allowed the emergence of more elaborated life forms with complex developmental plans, including the formation of the brain.
In this thesis we have combined biochemistry and molecular cell techniques with the study of neural development, providing notable contributions to the general understanding of how transcription is regulated but also discover new factors involved in transcriptional regulation.
Chapter 2 involves the study of the core transcription regulatory machinery. We have expanded the general understanding of the Mediator complex interactome and its genomic localization. Moreover, it has provided new paths to explore in further research. One example is Chapter 3, where I characterize the role of Cggbp1, a Mediator-interacting transcription factor involved in neural commitment. Exploiting updated protocols of stem cells culture and differentiation, I could follow the role of Cggbp1 in the dynamic model of neural induction. Chapter 4 of my thesis focuses in neurons, a terminal point of differentiation in the neural lineage. In this last chapter, we present an epigenetic map of the phenomenon of neuronal maturation, which is very important for neurons but surprisingly understudied.