Science and Technology Daily, Beijing, March 28 (Reporter Liu Xia) The number of neurons in the human brain is three times that of the brains of chimpanzees and gorillas! Why is the human brain larger than the brains of other great apes? British scientists wrote in the latest issue of Cell Magazine that they have discovered for the first time the reason why the human brain has become bigger-a key molecular switch ZEB2 may play a key role in it.
In the latest study, a team led by Madeleine Lancaster, the Molecular Biology Laboratory of the Cambridge Medical Research Council, compared "brain organoids" grown from stem cells from humans, gorillas and chimpanzees.
The researchers explained that in the early stages of brain development, neurons are formed from stem cells (neural progenitor cells).
Studies have found that compared with other great apes, human progenitor cells remain cylindrical for a longer period of time, during which time they divide more frequently and produce more cells.
In order to reveal the genetic mechanism leading to these differences, the researchers compared the gene expression of human and other apes brain organs and found that a gene called "ZEB2" was activated in the gorilla brain organs than in the human brain organs.
Later, they delayed the time for ZEB2 in the gorilla brain to work, and found that it slowed the maturation of progenitor cells, making the organoids of the gorilla brain more like humans.
Lancaster said: "Our new research provides some preliminary insights into the differences in human brain development.
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