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High-resolution Live Imaging of Cell Behavior in the Developing Neuroepithelium
Published on: April 12, 2012
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Dynamic behaviour of human neuroepithelial cells in the developing forebrain
Lakshmi Subramanian1, Marina Bershteyn1, Mercedes F Paredes1,2
1Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regeneration Medicine and Stem Cell Research, University of California San Francisco, 35 Medical Center Way, San Francisco, California 94143-0525, USA.
Nature Communications
|February 1, 2017
Summary
Human neuroepithelial (NE) cells retract basal processes during symmetric division, unlike radial glial (RG) cells which retain them. This difference in cell cycle dynamics during neocortex development is observable in organoids.
Area of Science:
- Developmental biology
- Neuroscience
- Cell biology
Background:
- Human neocortex development involves diverse progenitor cells.
- Understanding progenitor cell behavior is crucial for studying brain development.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate differences in cell cycle dynamics between human neuroepithelial (NE) cells and radial glial (RG) cells.
- To determine if these dynamics are conserved in human stem cell-derived organoids.
Main Methods:
- Timelapse imaging of forebrain progenitor cells in primary tissue and cerebral organoids.
- Observation of cell behavior during mitosis, including basal process dynamics.
Main Results:
- Human NE cells retract basal processes during symmetric divisions, with daughter cells regrowing processes post-cytokinesis.
- RG cells retain basal fibers throughout mitosis, both in primary tissue and organoids.
- Mitotic retraction of basal processes by NE cells is recapitulated in cerebral organoids.
Conclusions:
- Cell cycle dynamics differ between NE and RG cells during human neocortex development.
- Developmentally regulated changes in mitotic behavior may support RG cell scaffolding for neuronal migration.
- Cerebral organoid models can be used to study these dynamic transitions in mitotic behavior.
