Post-Transcriptional Control of Stem Cell Fate and Neural Development

A special issue of Cells (ISSN 2073-4409). This special issue belongs to the section "Stem Cells".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 April 2026 | Viewed by 100

Special Issue Editor

Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
Interests: transcriptional regulation; post-transcriptional regulation; stem cell biology; developmental biology; neural development

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Post-transcriptional regulation, including alternative splicing, RNA editing, mRNA stability, subcellular localization, and translational control, plays a pivotal role in orchestrating dynamic gene expression during development. These finely tuned mechanisms ensure the timely production of functional gene products essential for cell fate decision and proper developmental progression. This Special Issue consolidates recent advances that elucidate how post-transcriptional processes govern stem cell fate decisions and developmental trajectories, with particular emphasis on nervous system development. We further examine how disruptions in these regulatory networks contribute to compromised stem cell function, dysregulated neurogenesis, and the pathogenesis of neurological disorders. Collectively, these contributions highlight the fundamental importance of post-transcriptional control networks in determining cellular identity and orchestrating developmental programs.

This Special Issue welcomes reviews and original research articles that work on cells and animal model studies.

Dr. Kun Tan
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • post-transcriptional regulation
  • stem cell biology
  • neural development
  • developmental biology

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 3407 KB  
Article
SMG6’s PIN (PilT N-Terminus) Domain Is Required for Nonsense-Mediated mRNA Decay (NMD) In Vivo
by Baihui Chai, Xiao Tan, Yan Li, Chengyan Chen, Xin Ma and Tangliang Li
Cells 2026, 15(3), 282; https://doi.org/10.3390/cells15030282 - 2 Feb 2026
Abstract
Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a highly conserved RNA quality and quantity surveillance machinery in eukaryotic cells, serving as an important node in the post-transcriptional gene expression. Previous studies using the complete knockout of individual NMD factors in cells or animals reveal that [...] Read more.
Nonsense-mediated mRNA decay (NMD) is a highly conserved RNA quality and quantity surveillance machinery in eukaryotic cells, serving as an important node in the post-transcriptional gene expression. Previous studies using the complete knockout of individual NMD factors in cells or animals reveal that NMD deficiency causes developmental defects and compromises tissue homeostasis. However, because most NMD factors participate in multiple molecular functions, a direct link between NMD and cell fate determination is missing. SMG6 is a core NMD effector and the only endoribonuclease among all NMD factors. The NMD function of SMG6 is exclusively mediated by its PIN (PilT N-terminus) domain. In this study, we engineered a mouse model with the capability of specifically deactivating the SMG6’s PIN domain/endoribonuclease activity (Smg6-PINF/F), but not knocking out the complete SMG6 protein. We found that SMG6’s PIN domain is essential for NMD activity in embryonic stem cells (ESCs) and various tissues of adult mice. Furthermore, loss of SMG6’s PIN domain is dispensable for the mouse ESC self-renewal, but severely compromises the differentiation, which consequently causes the mutant mice to die during the process of organogenesis. Through the induced deletion of SMG6’s PIN domain in adult mice, we found that loss of SMG6’s NMD function affects the homeostasis of several mouse tissues, including the testis and the intestine. In sum, our study establishes a mechanistic link between NMD per se and cell fate determination of mouse ESCs, as well as in the tissues of adult mice, where cell fate transitions are actively ongoing. The Smg6-PINF/F mouse line could be a valuable strain for elucidating the biology of NMD per se. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Post-Transcriptional Control of Stem Cell Fate and Neural Development)
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