Publications by authors named "Eduardo Fernandez Ortuno"
Folding of the cerebral cortex is a key aspect of mammalian brain development and evolution, and defects are linked to severe neurological disorders. Primary folding occurs in highly stereotyped patterns that are predefined in the cortical germinal zones by a transcriptomic protomap. The gene regulatory landscape governing the emergence of this folding protomap remains unknown.
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- The gene ARHGAP11B plays a crucial role in the expansion of the human neocortex, which is linked to human brain development.
- Research shows that increasing ARHGAP11B levels in chimpanzee organoids boosts the number of basal progenitor cells, essential for neocortex growth.
- Conversely, reducing ARHGAP11B function in human organoids diminishes these progenitor cells, indicating that ARHGAP11B is essential for maintaining higher levels of key brain cells during human fetal development, highlighting its evolutionary significance.
The size of the cerebral cortex increases dramatically across amniotes, from reptiles to great apes. This is primarily due to different numbers of neurons and glial cells produced during embryonic development. The evolutionary expansion of cortical neurogenesis was linked to changes in neural stem and progenitor cells, which acquired increased capacity of self-amplification and neuron production.
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