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Updated: Sep 5, 2025

Lineage Tracing and Clonal Analysis in Developing Cerebral Cortex Using Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers MADM
Published on: May 8, 2020
Spatial control of astrogenesis progression by cortical arealization genes
Manuela Santo1, Laura Rigoldi1, Carmen Falcone2
1Laboratory of Cerebral Cortex Development, Department of Neuroscience, SISSA, via Bonomea 265, I-34136 Trieste, Italy.
Emx2 and Foxg1 transcription factors differentially regulate neural stem cell differentiation in the developing brain. Emx2 promotes astrogenesis, while Foxg1 inhibits it, influencing progenitor proliferation and cell fate.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Biology
- Genetics
Background:
- Cellular composition of the neonatal cerebral cortex is determined by stem cell differentiation rates.
- Pallial stem cells (SCs) and astroglial progenitors (APs) are key cell types in cortical development.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate spatial differences in SCs' commitment to astrogenesis.
- Analyze APs' progression to differentiated astrocytes.
- Determine the roles of Emx2 and Foxg1 in these processes.
Main Methods:
- Clonal and kinetic profiling of pallial precursors.
- Lentiviral somatic transgenesis.
- Epistasis and rescue assays.
Main Results:
- Caudal-medial (CM) SCs show higher astrogenesis rates than rostro-lateral (RL) SCs.
- RL-committed APs exhibit greater proliferation than CM APs.
- Emx2 promotes CM SC astrogenesis (via Couptf1, Nfia, Sox9); Foxg1 antagonizes it (via Zbtb20 repression).
Conclusions:
- Emx2 and Foxg1 asymmetrically and antagonistically control SCs and APs' distinct behaviors in the developing brain.
- These factors shape regional differences in astrocyte production and progenitor proliferation.
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