Ezh2 is involved in radial neuronal migration through regulating Reelin expression in cerebral cortex

Radial migration of pyramidal neurons is an important event during the development of cerebral cortex. Neurons experience series of morphological and directional transitions to get to their final laminar positions. Here we report that the histone methyltransferase enhancer of zest homolog 2 (Ezh2) is involved in the regulation of cortical radial migration. We show that Ezh2 knockdown leads to disturbed neuronal orientation, which results in the impairment of radial migration. Further results reveal that this migration deficiency may be due to the derepression of Reelin transcription in the migrating neurons. Our study provides evidence that epigenetic regulation of Reelin by Ezh2 maintains appropriate Reelin expression pattern to fulfill proper orientation of migrating neurons.