2023-10-13 01:30:20
International researchers publish 21 papers on detailed maps of brain cells in ‘Science’ etc.
“It will contribute to solving fundamental questions regarding the human brain, including neurological diseases.”
(Seoul = Yonhap News) Reporter Juyoung Lee = An international joint research team has completed the most extensive and detailed map of human brain cells ever created. In this study, the human brain was found to be composed of regarding 3,300 types of cells, regarding 10 times more than previously known, and some differences in brain cells between humans and other primates were also identified.
Human brain cell map special edition ‘Science’ logo
[Special Issue logo: Beth Rakouskas, AAAS/Science Abstract graphic: Michael Nunn 제공. 재판매 및 DB 금지]
On the 13th, the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) announced that the ‘Brain Initiative Cell Census Network’ (BICCN) research team was publishing ‘Science’, ‘Science Advances’, and ‘Science Translational Medicine’. It was announced that 21 human brain cell mapping research papers were published in three journals, including:
BICCN is a study launched by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) in 2017 to analyze the various types of cells that make up the brains of humans, mice, and non-human primates through innovative neurotechnology, create a comprehensive brain cell map, and provide it to researchers and the public. It’s a project.
In this study, the research team found that the brain is made up of 3,313 cell types, regarding 10 times more than previously known. They identified the full set of genes used by each cell type and mapped their distribution by region of the brain. Produced.
In addition, by investigating the similarities and differences between the human brain and other primates such as chimpanzees, gorillas, rhesus monkeys, and marmoset monkeys, we distinguished humans from an evolutionary perspective and identified some factors that make humans human.
AAAS said that this brain cell map is a tool to uncover what makes humans human. By understanding the human brain at the cellular level, we can determine which cell types are affected by specific mutations and cause neurological diseases, and the brain cells of humans and other primates. It was evaluated that it would be helpful in understanding what the level differences are.
Cellular diversity throughout the human brain
Approximately 100 brain regions were excised from three donors and subjected to single nuclear RNA sequencing. (left). Three levels of clustering reveal the cell type composition of the human brain (middle). Cortical neurons changed gradually, while brainstem neurons formed numerous small clusters and changed into more diverse types than expected. [Kimberly Siletti et al./Science 제공. 재판매 및 DB 금지]
The human brain is the most complex human organ in terms of its usefulness and cellular diversity, including senses, movement, reading, writing, speaking, and thinking. Nerve cells (neurons), the basic structural unit of the brain, receive and interpret sensory information and transmit motor commands to muscles as electrical signals.
The brain is composed of more than 100 billion neurons and many more non-neuronal cells, and all cells are complexly organized into hundreds of brain structures that control various functions.
The core content of this study was published in three papers (Kimberly Siletti et al., Yang Li et al., and Wei Tian et al.) containing draft maps of human brain cells, including gene expression and gene regulation structures.
A research team led by Dr. Nelson Johansson of the Allen Institute for Neuroscience in Seattle examined brain cell type variations in 75 adults who had undergone surgery for epilepsy and tumors to find out what brain cells differ from person to person.
Professor Paolo Arlotta of Harvard University said in a commentary, “Both healthy and diseased people have a wide spectrum of differences in genetic variation and environmental response,” and “there is no typical human being who can represent the whole.” He said.
In addition, this study revealed that the diversity of brain cells is concentrated in the midbrain and hindbrain, which are evolutionarily old brain regions, instead of the neocortex, which is responsible for higher cognitive functions such as learning, decision-making, sensory perception, memory, and language.
Additionally, genetic switches and brain cell types associated with various neuropsychiatric diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease, the most common type of dementia, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and major depression, were also analyzed.
A link was confirmed between microglia, which are immune cells in the brain, and Alzheimer’s disease, and a link between specific types of brain neurons and schizophrenia was also revealed.
“Different types of cells have distinct characteristics and can be affected differently depending on the disease,” said co-researcher Ed Lane, Ph.D., of the Allen Institute for Neuroscience. “It will be a starting point for understanding the basics and finding next-generation therapeutic targets,” he said.
How the human brain develops during early pregnancy
The process of human brain development during the 5th to 14th week of pregnancy was studied using methods such as single cell RNA sequencing and multiple RNA detection. This study shows how early patterning establishes future brain tissue and how it overlaps with maturation and differentiation pathways to form the complex adult nervous system. [Emelie Braun et al./Science 제공. 재판매 및 DB 금지]
The research team also compared the human brain with the temporal lobe cortex, which is associated with higher cognitive functions such as language comprehension, in the brains of chimpanzees and gorillas, the closest evolutionary relatives of humans, and discovered unique human characteristics.
Although the brain cell organization of humans and these primates is similar, certain genes, including many genes involved in neural connections, were found to function differently in the human brain than in the other two primates.
Dr Lane said: “Unlike the two primates, these molecular modifications in certain cell types in the human brain appear to affect how brain cells connect, or the plasticity of those connections. This may be an important part of what makes the human brain unique.” .
However, scientists point out that there is still a long way to go in brain research.
“These results are just the beginning in explaining the complexity of the human brain,” said co-researcher Professor Bing Ren of the University of California, San Diego. “More research is needed to fully understand the diversity, variability, and function of brain structure and function.” “It is necessary,” he said.
“Now researchers around the world will be able to use this achievement to address fundamental scientific questions regarding the human brain,” said Mattia Maroso, senior editor at Science. “The era of human brain research at the cellular level is knocking on our door.”
◆ 출처 : Science, Mattia Maroso, ‘A quest into the human brain’, 21 papers from science and related journals such as
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