德国马克斯-普朗克脑科学研究所Gilles Laurent等研究人员合作揭示羊膜动物大脑中神经元类型的分子多样性和演化。这一研究成果于2022年9月2日发表在国际学术期刊《科学》上。

为了比较跨大脑区域和物种的神经元类型，研究人员生成了一个鬃狮蜥大脑的细胞类型图谱，并与小鼠数据集进行了比较。从数百个基因的表达中可以确定神经元的保守类型，包括顺式结构型转录因子和参与连接的基因。然而，在这些类别中，既有保守的神经元类型，也有不同的神经元类型，这就排除了将大脑简单地分为祖先区域和新区域的可能性。在丘脑中，神经元的多样化与大脑皮层的演化相关，这表明发育起源和回路分配是神经元特性和演化的驱动力。

据介绍，脊椎动物大脑中存在着进化保守的区域，这一点已得到证实。然而，人们对神经元类型演化的规则和约束仍然知之甚少。

附：英文原文

Title: Molecular diversity and evolution of neuron types in the amniote brain

Author: David Hain, Tatiana Gallego-Flores, Michaela Klinkmann, Angeles Macias, Elena Ciirdaeva, Anja Arends, Christina Thum, Georgi Tushev, Friedrich Kretschmer, Maria Antonietta Tosches, Gilles Laurent

Issue&Volume: 2022-09-02

Abstract: The existence of evolutionarily conserved regions in the vertebrate brain is well established. The rules and constraints underlying the evolution of neuron types, however, remain poorly understood. To compare neuron types across brain regions and species, we generated a cell type atlas of the brain of a bearded dragon and compared it with mouse datasets. Conserved classes of neurons could be identified from the expression of hundreds of genes, including homeodomain-type transcription factors and genes involved in connectivity. Within these classes, however, there are both conserved and divergent neuron types, precluding a simple categorization of the brain into ancestral and novel areas. In the thalamus, neuronal diversification correlates with the evolution of the cortex, suggesting that developmental origin and circuit allocation are drivers of neuronal identity and evolution.

DOI: abp8202

Source: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp8202