大脑皮层在发育和进化中增大及沟回形成的分子细胞机制

Molecular and cellular mechanisms of cortical expansion and folding in brain development and evolution

非人灵长类动物在向人类的进化过程中,大脑皮层的体积不断增大,其表面沟回结构变得更加丰富,这一过程被认为与人类智力的形成密切相关,是人类大脑高级功能的神经基础。研究表明大脑皮层的大小不但受到编码基因的调控,而且还受到非编码RNA的重要影响。引人关注的是,近年来对有沟回脑的室下区(subventricular zone)外层放射状胶质细胞(outer radial glial cells,o RGs)的研究,揭示了其与大脑皮层沟回形成间的重要联系。本文通过回顾前人的研究,总结了当前在大脑皮层大小调节方面的一些重要进展,探讨了大脑皮层沟回形成的可能分子与细胞机制。

During the evolution from primates to humans, the size of cerebral cortex is increased by forming more gyri and sulci, which is believed to be highly associated with cognitive abilities and the basis of higher brain functions in humans. Accumulating lines of evidence have shown that the cortical size is regulated both by protein-coding genes and non-coding RNAs. In particular, the recently identified outer radial glial cells （oRGs） distributed in the outer subventricular zone （oSVZ） of gyrencephalic brains, have been considered to be important for cortical expansion and folding. This review summarizes recent progresses in the understanding of cortex expansion and discusses the potential molecular and cellular mechanisms of cortical folding.