Nature Sub-Journal: Huaqiao University's Sun Tao team reveals the development of human embryonic brain interneurons

The brain is one of the most complex organs in the human body.
The cerebral cortex alone contains about 14 billion neurons
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A hot issue of long-term research in the scientific community is: How do tens of billions of neurons accurately generate and form complex neural circuits during the development of human embryos? Excitatory glutamatergic neurons and inhibitory GABAergic interneurons are the two main types of cells in the brain
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Among them, the interneuron is the key cell that maintains the balance of the brain's neural circuits and the normal function of the brain
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Abnormal interneuron development is closely related to human psychiatric diseases, such as autism and schizophrenia
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The human brain's interneurons are of various types, with complex shapes and functions
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But so far, we still know little about the early proliferation, differentiation and radial migration of interneurons
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On November 4, 2021, Professor Tao Sun’s team from the Precision Medicine Research Center of Huaqiao University published a research paper titled: Interneuron origin and molecular diversity in the human fetal brain online in the journal Nature Neuroscience, which systematically explained the development of interneurons in the human embryonic brain.
Regularity
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Interneurons in the mammalian brain come from the subpallium area and travel radially to reach the cerebral cortex
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The subcortical area of ​​the human embryonic brain is composed of medial, lateral, and caudal ganglion elevations (MGE, LGE, and CGE)
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In order to explore the origin and cell diversity of brain interneurons, researchers used single-cell RNA-seq and in situ sequencing to systematically reveal the different developmental stages of the human embryonic brain.
The origin and specific molecular markers of interneurons
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This research has three main findings: First: The shared neural progenitor: Although the interneuron precursor cells distributed in MGE, LGE, and CGE express their specific genes, they are quasi-chronological.
Analysis shows that they all come from the same neural cell population
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Second: The specific combination of gene expression in the interneuron precursor cells, including transcription factors, determines the precise anatomical location of the interneuron in the subcortical region of the human embryo, and also determines the time sequence of interneuron development
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This shows that the fate characteristics of interneurons in time and space are simultaneously regulated by accurate gene expression combinations
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Third: Although the types of interneurons in the adult human cerebral cortex are diverse, the gene expression characteristics of these interneurons have been determined and maintained in the early embryonic development
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In summary, the research of Professor Sun Tao's team shows that the diversity of interneurons in the human embryonic brain is determined by precise gene expression combinations
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The cell fate of the interneurons of the adult brain has been determined as early as the embryonic stage
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Because anxiety, depression, autism and schizophrenia are closely related to the abnormal development of interneurons, this research provides new ideas for people to further explore the pathogenesis of mental diseases
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Huaqiao University School of Medicine master student Yu Yuan and doctoral student Zeng Zhiwei are the co-first authors of the paper, and Professor Sun Tao is the only corresponding author of the paper
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Link to the paper: https://