Mechanisms of brain evolution: Regulation of neural progenitor cell diversity and cell cycle length

In the last few years, several studies have revisited long-held assumptions in the field of brain development and evolution providing us with a fundamentally new vision on the mechanisms controlling its size and shape, hence function. Among these studies, some described hitherto unforeseeable subtyp...

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Detalhes bibliográficos
Autores: Borrell, Víctor, Calegari, Federico
Formato: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2014
País:España
Recursos:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/309120
Acesso em linha:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/309120
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palavra-chave:Brain evolution
Cell cycle
Neural progenitor cells
Cortical architecture
Gyrification
Cell fate determination
Descrição
Resumo:In the last few years, several studies have revisited long-held assumptions in the field of brain development and evolution providing us with a fundamentally new vision on the mechanisms controlling its size and shape, hence function. Among these studies, some described hitherto unforeseeable subtypes of neural progenitors while others reinterpreted long-known observations about their cell cycle in alternative new ways. Most remarkably, this knowledge combined has allowed the generation of mammalian model organisms in which brain size and folding has been selectively increased giving us the means to understand the mechanisms underlying the evolution of the most complex and sophisticated organ. Here we review the key findings made in this area and make a few conjectures about their evolutionary meaning including the likelihood of Martians conquering our planet.