2. Academic Validation
  3. Human-specific gene ARHGAP11B promotes basal progenitor amplification and neocortex expansion

Human-specific gene ARHGAP11B promotes basal progenitor amplification and neocortex expansion

  • Science. 2015 Mar 27;347(6229):1465-70. doi: 10.1126/science.aaa1975.
Marta Florio 1,  Mareike Albert 1,  Elena Taverna 1,  Takashi Namba 1,  Holger Brandl 1,  Eric Lewitus 1,  Christiane Haffner 1,  Alex Sykes 1,  Fong Kuan Wong 1,  Jula Peters 1,  Elaine Guhr 1,  Sylvia Klemroth 2,  Kay Prüfer 3,  Janet Kelso 3,  Ronald Naumann 1,  Ina Nüsslein 1,  Andreas Dahl 2,  Robert Lachmann 4,  Svante Pääbo 3,  Wieland B Huttner 5
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Pfotenhauerstraße 108, D-01307 Dresden, Germany.
  • 2 Technische Universität Dresden, Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden, Fetscherstraße 105, D-01307 Dresden, Germany.
  • 3 Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology (MPI-EVA), Deutscher Platz 6, D-04103 Leipzig, Germany.
  • 4 Technische Universität Dresden, Universitätsklinikum Carl Gustav Carus, Klinik und Poliklinik für Frauenheilkunde und Geburtshilfe, Fetscherstraße 74, D-01307 Dresden, Germany.
  • 5 Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG), Pfotenhauerstraße 108, D-01307 Dresden, Germany. huttner@mpi-cbg.de.
PMID: 25721503 DOI: 10.1126/science.aaa1975
Abstract

Evolutionary expansion of the human neocortex reflects increased amplification of basal progenitors in the subventricular zone, producing more neurons during fetal corticogenesis. In this work, we analyze the transcriptomes of distinct progenitor subpopulations isolated by a cell polarity-based approach from developing mouse and human neocortex. We identify 56 genes preferentially expressed in human apical and basal radial glia that lack mouse orthologs. Among these, ARHGAP11B has the highest degree of radial glia-specific expression. ARHGAP11B arose from partial duplication of ARHGAP11A (which encodes a Rho guanosine triphosphatase-activating protein) on the human lineage after separation from the chimpanzee lineage. Expression of ARHGAP11B in embryonic mouse neocortex promotes basal progenitor generation and self-renewal and can increase cortical plate area and induce gyrification. Hence, ARHGAP11B may have contributed to evolutionary expansion of human neocortex.

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