ABSTRACT
This chapter gives an overview of recent progress related to the role of microRNAs in the central nervous system development. One approach that highlights the role of these noncoding small RNAs during fetal central nervous system development is the use of transgenic animals in which the conditional knockout of Dicer has been accomplished during the development of the cerebral cortex, the hippocampus, the retina, or the midbrain. Another strategy has been to inhibit or overexpressed microRNAs that have been implicated in neurogenesis, one of the most studied process in the developmental biology. Although, little is known about how microRNAs 238are involved in the control of gene expression during the complex network formation of the central nervous system during development, the expression of several important transcriptional factors involved in central nervous system formation have been identify as microRNAs targets, suggesting an important participation of these molecules on this process. Finally, this chapter highlights the possibility of using microRNAs as biomarkers for central nervous system development and how altered conditions in utero might lead to the development of neurological diseases during postnatal life, an emerging field of research that certainly will impact on the etiology of human neural disorders.
