Molecular and Cellular Mechanisms of Brain Development and Neurodevelopmental Disorders

A special issue of Journal of Developmental Biology (ISSN 2221-3759).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (30 November 2025) | Viewed by 1159

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Guest Editor
Department of Biochemistry and Medical Genetics, Rady Faculty of Health Sciences, Max Rady College of Medicine, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg, MB R3E 0J9, Canada
Interests: epigenetics; DNA methylation; transcriptional control; gene regulation; drug repurposing; neural stem cells; neurodevelopmental disorders; medulloblastoma brain tumor
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Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Brain development is a complex process that is highly regulated at different cellular and molecular levels. Accordingly, specific regulatory mechanisms are in place to ensure the proper expression of key developmental genes. During development, a population of neuronal progenitor cells known as neural stem cells build the central nervous system through differentiating into specific cell types. These progenitor cells represent fundamental biological systems that can be used to study the mechanisms of cell fate determination in the developing and adult brain. Such systems could include in vitro and in vivo models, benefiting from classical and novel technologies.

This Special Issue welcomes review articles and original research studies that cover relevant research in model systems that investigate different molecular and cellular mechanisms of brain development and their impact in neurodevelopmental disorders. We encourage submissions in different areas of research and disciplines, including embryonic brain development and adult brain function and physiology, the epigenetic basis of brain cell development and their deregulation in neurodevelopmental diseases, cell signaling pathways in brain cells, neural stem cell differentiation and self-renewal, gene regulatory mechanisms in relevant model systems, the molecular and cellular basis of brain diseases, next-generation sequencing and multi-omics studies, and neuroscience.

You may choose our Joint Special Issue in Cells.

Prof. Dr. Mojgan Rastegar
Guest Editor

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Keywords

  • brain development
  • neural stem cells
  • neurodevelopmental disorders
  • brain diseases
  • cellular and molecular mechanisms
  • embryonic and adult brain

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

20 pages, 3330 KB  
Article
Adenosine Receptor Functionality and Desensitization Machinery in a Neuronal Cell Model of Angelman Syndrome
by Martina Contestabile, Jacqueline Fátima Martins de Almeida, Chiara De Cesari, Ilaria Tonazzini, Paolo Giovanni Artini and Simona Daniele
J. Dev. Biol. 2026, 14(2), 20; https://doi.org/10.3390/jdb14020020 - 2 May 2026
Viewed by 335
Abstract
Angelman syndrome (AS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by the loss of maternal UBE3A expression, leading to disrupted proteostasis and synaptic dysfunction. Adenosine is a ubiquitous neuromodulator whose G protein-coupled receptors (ARs) regulate neuronal differentiation and neurite outgrowth during development. Here, we investigated [...] Read more.
Angelman syndrome (AS) is a neurodevelopmental disorder caused by the loss of maternal UBE3A expression, leading to disrupted proteostasis and synaptic dysfunction. Adenosine is a ubiquitous neuromodulator whose G protein-coupled receptors (ARs) regulate neuronal differentiation and neurite outgrowth during development. Here, we investigated AR signaling and their influence on survival–autophagy balance and neuronal morphology in an AS cellular model. Using SH-SY5Y cells with silenced UBE3A, we found that UBE3A loss markedly decreased A1AR, A2BAR, and A3AR protein levels while significantly increasing A2AR expression. Ligand affinity was preserved across genotypes, but A1AR and A2AAR desensitization kinetics were significantly slower in UBE3A-deficient cells. These effects were associated with reduced recruitment of G protein-coupled receptor kinase 2 (GRK2) to the plasma membrane and decreased GRK2–AR association in UBE3A-deficient cells, suggesting a possible contribution of altered GRK2 dynamics to prolonged AR signaling. Functionally, A1AR and A2AR agonists preferentially promoted survival of UBE3A-deficient cells and modulated the MDM2–p53 axis and autophagy markers; A1R stimulation also increased neurite density in UBE3A-deficient cells. Together, these results identify AR-level alterations and defective desensitization machinery in AS neuronal cells and link receptor changes to downstream proteostasis and morphological phenotypes relevant to AS pathophysiology. Full article
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