Neurons are especially enriched with longer transcripts compared to nonneural cell types.
Igor Kondrychyn, Lena Robra, Vatsala Thirumalai 2017, 'Transcriptional Complexity and Distinct Expression Patterns of auts2 Paralogs in Daniorerio', G3: Genes, Genomes, Geneticshttp://g3journal.org/lookup/doi/10.1534/g3.117.042622. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
However, many cells resist differentiation and others adopt nonneural fates.
Sally Lowell, Alexandra Benchoua, Barry Heavey, Austin G Smith 2006, 'Notch promotes neural lineage entry by pluripotent embryonic stem cells.', PLoS Biologyhttp://europepmc.org/articles/PMC1431581?pdf=render. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
Direct conversion of nonneural cells to functional neurons holds great promise for neurological disease modeling and regenerative medicine.
Soham Chanda, Cheen Euong Ang, Jonathan Davila, ChangHui Pak, Moritz Mall, Qian YiLee, Henrik Ahlenius, Seung Woo Jung, Thomas C. Südhof, Marius Wernig 2014, 'Generation of Induced Neuronal Cells by the Single Reprogramming Factor ASCL1', Stem Cell Reportshttp://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2213671114001878. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)