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Abstract
During central nervous system (CNS) development, neural progenitor cells undergo dramatic changes in gene expression to differentiate into diverse types of neurons. One of the fundamental challenges in neurobiology is to understand the molecular mechanisms that drive this drastic and thorough transformation of the gene expression profile. Previous research suggests that transcription factors are the primary regulators of gene expression changes during neurogenesis. However, recent studies have shown that microRNAs (miRNAs) are also important components of the gene regulatory networks that direct neuronal cell fate. The extent to which miRNAs collaborate with transcription factors in the gene network that determines neuronal identity remains unclear.