Chromatin regulators of neural development

•The role of chromatin modification in NPC sequential fate switches.•The role of chromatin modification in neuronal differentiation.•Chromatin structure and DNA/histone modifications change during development.•Some modifications not only occur at specific gene loci, but also on a global scale.

During all stages of neural development—from the fate switches of neural precursor/progenitor cells to activity-dependent synapse maturation—chromatin-level modifications are important regulators of the gene expression that control developmental programs. Such modifications, including both alterations of histone tails and cytosine residues in the DNA, as well as changes in the chromatin structure, act dynamically throughout development and work together to determine the chromatin state at each time point. While many studies have shown localized action of chromatin modifiers at relevant gene loci, recent reports have also indicated that some chromatin modifications work on a more global scale, altering many loci throughout the genome. Here we review recent papers that describe the roles of chromatin-level regulation, at both the local and global scale, in the development of the mouse brain.