Sox11 modulates neocortical development by regulating the proliferation and neuronal differentiation of cortical intermediate precursors

Neural precursor cells play important roles in the neocortical development, but the mechanisms of neural progenitor proliferation, neuronal differentiation, and migration, as well as patterning are still unclear. Soxll, one of SoxC family members, has been reported to be essential for embryonic and adult neurogenesis. But there is no report about the roles of Soxll in corticogenesis. In order to investigate Soxll function during cortical development, loss of function experiment was performed in this study. Knockdown of Soxll by Soxll siRNA constructs resulted in a diminished neuronal differentiation, but enhanced proliferation of intermediate progenitors. Accompanied with the high expression of Soxll in the postmitotic neurons, but low expression of Soxll in the dividing neural progenitors, all the observations indicate that Soxll induces neuronal differentiation during the neocortical development.