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On Expression Patterns and Developmental Origin of Human Brain Regions.
1The Gonda Multidisciplinary Brain Research Center, Bar-Ilan University, Ramat Gan, Israel.
Plos Computational Biology
|August 27, 2016
Summary
Most human genes (92%) show expression patterns aligning with developmental brain regions. This agreement, influenced by gene type and evolutionary age, persists throughout life, reflecting developmental origins.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Genomics
- Developmental Biology
Background:
- Brain regions possess distinct cell types and circuitry reflected in gene expression.
- Adult rodent studies show transcriptome patterns correlate with embryonic origin, but human data is limited.
- Understanding how developmental signatures are maintained and evolve in the human brain is crucial.
Purpose of the Study:
- To quantify gene expression patterns in the adult human brain related to developmental origin.
- To investigate how these expression patterns change across developmental phases.
- To explore the relationship between gene similarity, expression correlation, and developmental signatures.
Main Methods:
- Genome-wide mRNA expression analysis of post-mortem adult human brain tissue.
- Comparison of gene expression profiles with developmental brain region ontology.
- Analysis of gene pairs' similarity and spatial correlation strength.
Main Results:
- 92% of human genes exhibit expression patterns consistent with developmental brain region ontology.
- This agreement varies across developmental stages and is strong in neuron-specific genes and early-evolved genes.
- Gene pairs with high developmental agreement show stronger correlations, with spatial correlation changing more in those with stronger embryonic signatures.
Conclusions:
- Spatial gene expression in the adult human brain is largely tuned by developmental origins.
- This developmental tuning is dynamic, changing throughout life.
- The findings suggest a persistent influence of early developmental programs on adult brain gene regulation.
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