Growth arrest specific gene 1: a fuel for driving growth in the cerebellum.

Cell proliferation is an essential force to build up the size, shape, and function of an organ. This force is particularly prominent in the production of the cerebellar granule neurons, which represent 80% of all brain neurons. Extensive cell biological and tissue transplantation studies have uncovered both long-range diffusible and local cell-cell, contact-dependent growth cues for the granular neurons. The assignment of specific gene products to their contributions to the genesis of the granular neurons is greatly facilitated by in vitro culture assays and knock-out mouse analyses. Among them, the Growth arrest specific gene 1 (Gas1), a known negative regulator of the cell cycle, was shown to have profound influence on the production of the granule cells. Our aim here is to review the contributions of Gas1 and a few other selected genes and put them into a more comprehensive framework, though it may be speculative at times, of granule cell proliferation regulation.