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Updated: May 12, 2026
09:25
Live Imaging of Mitosis in the Developing Mouse Embryonic Cortex
Published on: June 4, 2014
Mitotic spindle orientation predicts outer radial glial cell generation in human neocortex.
Bridget E LaMonica1, Jan H Lui, David V Hansen
1Department of Neurology, University of California, San Francisco, 35 Medical Center Way, San Francisco, California 94143, USA.
Nature Communications
|April 12, 2013
Summary
Human brain evolution involved specialized neural stem cells dividing horizontally to create more outer radial glial cells. This process, unique to humans, expanded the neocortex, increasing brain size and complexity.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Evolutionary Biology
Background:
- The human neocortex exhibits remarkable size and complexity compared to other species.
- Neocortical expansion is linked to prolonged neurogenesis by outer radial glial cells in the outer subventricular zone, a region absent in rodents.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the mechanisms of human outer radial glial cell generation.
- To understand the role of ventricular radial glial cell division in forming the outer subventricular zone.
Main Methods:
- Comparative analysis of cell division in human and rodent brain development.
- Microscopic observation of mitotic spindle orientation and cell-intrinsic factors.
Main Results:
- Human ventricular radial glial cells generate outer radial glial cells through horizontal divisions, occurring more frequently than in rodents.
- Outer radial glial cell mitotic behavior is cell-intrinsic, with the basal fiber influencing cleavage plane orientation.
- This mechanism contributes to the formation of the outer subventricular zone and increased neuronal production.
Conclusions:
- Altered regulation of mitotic spindle orientation in ventricular radial glial cells drives outer radial glial cell proliferation.
- This process is a key factor in the expansion of the human neocortex and increased neuronal numbers during evolution.
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