The red coexpression network was slightly larger with 20 genes (see Supplemental Table 2 for GO) and included 2 potential hub genes, cysteine-rich PAK1 inhibitor (CRIPAK) and forkhead box P4 (FOXP4), based on a connection weight of 0.5 (Figure 4, B).
A second hub gene from this network is FOXP4, a transcription factor important during development.
When it is time for the neural precursors to become motor neurons, two proteins that repress gene expression, called Foxp2 and Foxp4, become elevated and then silence N-cadherin expression, causing the clustered neural stem and precursor cells to break apart and begin differentiating.
Novitch and his team will examine whether the functions of Foxp2 and Foxp4 in regulating cell adhesion may be important for the maintenance and differentiation of neural stem cells in the adult brain, and whether the loss of their activity may contribute to the formation and growth of brain tumors.