The developmental transcriptome of the human brain: implications for neurodevelopmental disorders

Area of Science:

• Neuroscience
• Genomics
• Developmental Biology

Background:

• Comprehensive datasets of coding and noncoding RNAs in the developing human brain have been generated.
• These datasets are crucial for understanding the molecular basis of complex neurodevelopmental disorders.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review recent studies that leverage developmental transcriptome data.
• To enhance understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorder pathogenesis.

Main Methods:

• Integration of developmental transcriptome data with gene discovery approaches.
• Analysis of spatial and temporal dimensions of gene expression data.

Main Results:

• Developmental transcriptome data successfully generated testable hypotheses on disease-associated gene convergence.
• Specific findings include projection neurons in the prefrontal and primary motor-somatosensory cortex during mid-fetal development for autism spectrum disorder.
• Frontal cortex during fetal development was identified for schizophrenia.

Conclusions:

• Developmental transcriptome data is essential for interpreting disease-associated mutations and transcriptional changes.
• Novel approaches integrating spatial and temporal data have improved understanding of disease onset.
• Further refinement and expansion to other disorders will yield critical insights into disease biology.