Dynamic epigenetic modifications play a key role in mediating the expression of genes required for neuronal development. We previously identified nitric oxide (NO) as a signaling molecule that mediates S-nitrosylation of histone deacetylase 2 (HDAC2) and epigenetic changes in neurons. Here, we show that HDAC2 nitrosylation regulates neuronal radial migration during cortical development. Bead-array analysis performed in the developing cortex revealed that brahma (Brm), a subunit of the ATP-dependent chromatin-remodeling complex BRG/brahma-associated factor, is one of the genes regulated by S-nitrosylation of HDAC2. In the cortex, expression of a mutant form of HDAC2 that cannot be nitrosylated dramatically inhibits Brm expression. Our study identifies NO and HDAC2 nitrosylation as part of a signaling pathway that regulates cortical development and the expression of Brm in neurons.neural development | transcription | nitric oxide synthase | polar morphology | schizophrenia N euronal development relies on a number of sequential events whereby a pool of undifferentiated embryonic progenitor cells gives rise to a variety of highly specialized postmitotic neurons and glia. In the cortex, neuronal and glial cells derive from multipotent neural progenitor cells (NPCs) generated in the ventricular zone (VZ) of the developing brain. NPCs either undergo self-renewal or exit the cell cycle, differentiate into postmitotic neurons, and migrate to the external layers of the cortex (1). Cortical layers are formed between embryonic day 11 (E11) and E18 in an inside-out manner with deep layers formed first, followed by the more superficial layers, and the formation depends on radial neuron migration. Extracellular cues that regulate this process include brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) (2). Although BDNF and TrkB signaling are not required for neuronal survival in the embryonic cortex, they have been implicated in the regulation of NPC proliferation (3) and radial and tangential neuronal migration (2).In addition to the coordinated expression of nuclear factors that regulate, first, neurogenesis and neuronal migration and, later, promote gliogenesis, epigenetic modifications of both DNA and histones represent fundamental mechanisms by which neurons adapt their transcriptional response to corticogenic cues (4). Histone acetylases and deacetylases (HDACs) are nuclear enzymes that maintain chromatin acetylation in balance, thereby contributing to both transcriptional activation and repression. All HDACs identified so far are present in the nervous system and are often developmentally regulated. For example, the highly homologous HDAC1 and HDAC2 are detected at different stages of neuronal development, with HDAC1 confined to neural stem cells and glia and HDAC2 predominantly expressed in postmitotic neuroblasts and differentiated neurons (5).Although it is now established that many posttranslational modifications of HDACs impact on their activity, there is little evidence directly linking extrinsic stimuli to changes of nucle...