Early emergence of cortical interneuron diversity in the mouse embryo

Embryonic hints of adult diversity The adult brain contains dozens of different types of interneurons that control and refine neuronal circuits. Mi et al. used single-cell transcriptomics to investigate when these subtypes emerge during interneuron development in the mouse. Transcriptomes of embryonic interneurons showed similarities to adult classes of differentiated interneurons, thus dividing the immature embryonic interneurons themselves into classes. Nearly a dozen classes of embryonic neurons could be identified soon after their last mitosis by transcriptomic similarity with known classes of adult cortical interneurons. Thus, the fate of embryonic interneurons can be read in their transcriptomes well before the neurons migrate and reach their final sites of differentiation and circuit integration. Science , this issue p. 81 </jats:p

Spatiotemporal transcriptomic divergence across human and macaque brain development

Human nervous system development is an intricate and protracted process that requires precise spatiotemporal transcriptional regulation. We generated tissue-level and single-cell transcriptomic data from up to 16 brain regions covering prenatal and postnatal rhesus macaque development. Integrative analysis with complementary human data revealed that global intraspecies (ontogenetic) and interspecies (phylogenetic) regional transcriptomic differences exhibit concerted cup-shaped patterns, with a late fetal-to-infancy (perinatal) convergence. Prenatal neocortical transcriptomic patterns revealed transient topographic gradients, whereas postnatal patterns largely reflected functional hierarchy. Genes exhibiting heterotopic and heterochronic divergence included those transiently enriched in the prenatal prefrontal cortex or linked to autism spectrum disorder and schizophrenia. Our findings shed light on transcriptomic programs underlying the evolution of human brain development and the pathogenesis of neuropsychiatric disorders.Also supported by BFU2017-86471-P (MINECO/FEDER, UE), U01 MH106874 grant, Howard Hughes International Early Career, 3P30AG021342-16S2 (H.Z.); Obra Social “La Caixa” and Secretaria d’Universitats i Recerca and CERCA Programme del Departament d’Economia i Coneixement de la Generalitat de Catalunya (GRC 2017 SGR 880) (T.M.-B.); a Formació de Personal Investigador fellowship from Generalitat de Catalunya (FI_B00122) (P.E.-C.); La Caixa Foundation (L.F.-P.); a Juan de la Cierva fellowship (FJCI-2016-29558) from MICINN (D.J.); and NIH grants MH109904 and MH106874, the Kavli Foundation, and the James S. McDonnell Foundation

Zika Virus Disrupts Phospho-TBK1 Localization and Mitosis in Human Neuroepithelial Stem Cells and Radial Glia

The mechanisms underlying Zika virus (ZIKV)-related microcephaly and other neurodevelopment defects remain poorly understood. Here, we describe the derivation and characterization, including single-cell RNA-seq, of neocortical and spinal cord neuroepithelial stem (NES) cells to model early human neurodevelopment and ZIKV-related neuropathogenesis. By analyzing human NES cells, organotypic fetal brain slices, and a ZIKV-infected micrencephalic brain, we show that ZIKV infects both neocortical and spinal NES cells as well as their fetal homolog, radial glial cells (RGCs), causing disrupted mitoses, supernumerary centrosomes, structural disorganization, and cell death. ZIKV infection of NES cells and RGCs causes centrosomal depletion and mitochondrial sequestration of phospho-TBK1 during mitosis. We also found that nucleoside analogs inhibit ZIKV replication in NES cells, protecting them from ZIKV-induced pTBK1 relocalization and cell death. We established a model system of human neural stem cells to reveal cellular and molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental defects associated with ZIKV infection and its potential treatment

Transcriptome and epigenome landscape of human cortical development modeled in organoids

Genes implicated in neuropsychiatric disorders are active in human fetal brain, yet difficult to study in a longitudinal fashion. We demonstrate that organoids from human pluripotent cells model cerebral cortical development on the molecular level before 16 weeks postconception. A multiomics analysis revealed differentially active genes and enhancers, with the greatest changes occurring at the transition from stem cells to progenitors. Networks of converging gene and enhancer modules were assembled into six and four global patterns of expression and activity across time. A pattern with progressive down-regulation was enriched with human-gained enhancers, suggesting their importance in early human brain development. A few convergent gene and enhancer modules were enriched in autism-associated genes and genomic variants in autistic children. The organoid model helps identify functional elements that may drive disease onset