Jumonji family histone demethylases in neural development

© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2014. Central nervous system (CNS) development is driven by coordinated actions of developmental signals and chromatin regulators that precisely regulate gene expression patterns. Histone methylation is a regulatory mechanism that controls transcriptional programs. In the last 10 years, several histone demethylases (HDM) have been identified as important players in neural development, and their implication in cell fate decisions is beginning to be recognized. Identification of the physiological roles of these enzymes and their molecular mechanisms of action will be necessary for completely understanding the process that ultimately generates different neural cells in the CNS. In this review, we provide an overview of the Jumonji family of HDMs involved in neurodevelopment, and we discuss their roles during neural fate establishment and neuronal differentiation.This work was supported by grants (BFU2009-11527, BFU-2012-34261) from the Spanish MINECO, a grant (090210) from the Fundaciò La Marató de TV3, and a grant from the Fondation Jérôme Lejeune. A.G. received an FPU fellowshipPeer Reviewe