Neurons acetylate their way to migration

The centrosome is crucial for neuronal migration and polarisation, processes that are disrupted in a number of neurodevelopmental disorders including schizophrenia. Mutation of DISC1, associated with increased risk of schizophrenia and psychiatric illness, has been shown to affect the centrosome, but the mechanisms involved have not been elucidated. In this issue of EMBO Reports, Fukuda and colleagues demonstrate that a DISC1-interacting protein, CAMDI, suppresses the activity of the histone deacetylase HDAC6, thereby promoting centrosome stability and consequently neuronal migration . Loss of CAMDI leads to cortical migration defects and behavioural phenotypes that model autism spectrum disorders and which can be rescued by inhibition of HDAC6. The study provides novel mechanistic insight into centrosome regulation in neurodevelopment.