The hominoid-specific gene TBC1D3 promotes generation of basal neural progenitors and induces cortical folding in mice
Xiang-Chun Ju,
Qiong-Qiong Hou,
Ai-Li Sheng,
Kong-Yan Wu,
Yang Zhou,
Ying Jin,
Tieqiao Wen,
Zhengang Yang,
Xiaoqun Wang,
Zhen-Ge Luo
Affiliations
Xiang-Chun Ju
Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences University, Beijing, China
Qiong-Qiong Hou
Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences University, Beijing, China
Ai-Li Sheng
Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Kong-Yan Wu
Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Yang Zhou
The Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Ying Jin
The Institute of Health Sciences, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China
Tieqiao Wen
School of Life Sciences, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China
Zhengang Yang
Institutes of Brain Science, State Key Laboratory of Medical Neurobiology, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Xiaoqun Wang
CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai, China; Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China
Institute of Neuroscience, Shanghai Institutes for Biological Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China; Chinese Academy of Sciences University, Beijing, China; CAS Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Shanghai, China; ShanghaiTech University, Shanghai, China
Cortical expansion and folding are often linked to the evolution of higher intelligence, but molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying cortical folding remain poorly understood. The hominoid-specific gene TBC1D3 undergoes segmental duplications during hominoid evolution, but its role in brain development has not been explored. Here, we found that expression of TBC1D3 in ventricular cortical progenitors of mice via in utero electroporation caused delamination of ventricular radial glia cells (vRGs) and promoted generation of self-renewing basal progenitors with typical morphology of outer radial glia (oRG), which are most abundant in primates. Furthermore, down-regulation of TBC1D3 in cultured human brain slices decreased generation of oRGs. Interestingly, localized oRG proliferation resulting from either in utero electroporation or transgenic expression of TBC1D3, was often found to underlie cortical regions exhibiting folding. Thus, we have identified a hominoid gene that is required for oRG generation in regulating the cortical expansion and folding.
