Transcription profiling by array of cerebral cortex and hippocampus tissues from Dicer knockout mice to study the effect of microRNA depletion on neural stem and progenitor cells

The precise mechanisms by which microRNAs (miRNAs) contribute to the dynamic regulation of gene expression during forebrain development are still partly elusive. Here we show that depletion of miRNAs via genetic inactivation of Dicer after the onset of forebrain neurogenesis profoundly impairs the morphological and proliferative characteristics of neural stem and progenitor cells.