Hangzhou Talk #15
Human neural progenitor diversity during cortical development
Suijuan Zhong, Xin Zhou, Bo Zeng, Mengdi Wang, Qian Wu and Xiaoqun Wang State Key Laboratory of Cognitive Neuroscience and Learning, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, 100875, China.
The human brain contains billions of neurons that were originally generated from neuroepithelial cells. The cerebral cortex can be divided into the following lobes: the frontal lobe (FL), parietal lobe (PL), occipital lobe (OL) and temporal lobe (TL), with each showing specialized functions in sensory and motor control and having specific projections to different targets of the nervous system. Our previous study revealed the developmental process of the human prefrontal cortex, which is the most uniquely expanded region of the human nervous system. However, spatial and temporal regulation of different brain region at single-cell resolution at a serial of embryonic time points has not yet been performed systemically. Radial glia (RG) are primary neural stem cells of the cortex, and are developed by recent investigations into the spatiotemporal, transcriptomic, and morphological diversity of human RG. To explore cell-type diversity and heterogeneity, we identified 21molecularly distinctive subtypes for RG. It is important to explore the diversity and spatial location of RG cells and the distinctive differentiation paths to various neuron types during early embryogenesis. We not only transcriptionally and spatially resolved 21 RG subtypes but also identified the distinctive regionalization-specific RG-IPC/TransPro-neuron differentiation trajectories, providing a powerful tool for understanding the molecular mechanisms of orchestra neurodevelopment. This study also verified the precise time of oRG cell occurrence, as well as the relevant signaling pathways regulating the oRG generation.
