From stem cells to comparative corticogenesis: a bridge too far?
- Resource Type
- Authors
- Marion Betizeau; Colette Dehay
- Source
- Subject
- 0301 basic medicine
education.field_of_study
Population
Anatomy
Biology
Macaque
Cortex (botany)
1309 Developmental Biology
1307 Cell Biology
03 medical and health sciences
Corticogenesis
030104 developmental biology
medicine.anatomical_structure
1311 Genetics
Cerebral cortex
biology.animal
medicine
1312 Molecular Biology
570 Life sciences
biology
Stem cell
education
Induced pluripotent stem cell
Neuroscience
Heterochrony
10194 Institute of Neuroinformatics
- Language
- English
It has been hypothesized that the higher number of neurons in human cortex compared to the chimpanzee and other primate species is key to high cognitive function. Are human cortical precursors endowed with specific properties that drive greater neuronal expansion than in other non-human primates? Otani et al. 2016 addressed this issue taking advantage of comparative in vitro corticogenesis models based on human, chimpanzee and macaque pluripotent stem cells. Clonal analysis revealed a heterochrony of early developmental events possibly leading to a relatively higher expansion of human cortical precursor population. In absence of evidence going beyond putative correlation, the claim that stem cell models of cortical development indicate mechanism of cortical size regulation needs to be further examined notably with respect to in vivo observations of cortical precursor lineages.