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Updated: Sep 9, 2025

Genetic Manipulation of Cerebellar Granule Neurons In Vitro and In Vivo to Study Neuronal Morphology and Migration
Published on: March 17, 2014
Galectin-3 induces neurodevelopmental apical-basal polarity and regulates gyrification
Luana Campos Soares1,2,3,4, Ning Huang1,5, Hana Bernhardova1
1Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics, University of Oxford, Oxford OX1 3QX, UK.
None:
Apical-basal polarity (ABP) establishment and maintenance is necessary for proper brain development, yet how it is controlled is unclear. Galectin-3 (Gal-3) has been previously implicated in ABP of epithelial cells, and, here, we find that it is apically expressed in human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) during neural induction. Gal-3 blockade disrupts ABP and alters the distribution of junctional proteins in hESC-derived neural rosettes and is rescued by addition of recombinant Gal-3. Transcriptomics analysis shows that blocking Gal-3 regulates expression of genes responsible for nervous system development and cell junction assembly, among others. Last, Gal-3 blockade during embryonic development in vivo reduces horizontal cell divisions, disturbs cortical layering of neural progenitors, and induces gyrification. These data uncover a regulatory mechanism for ABP in the brain and warrant caution in modulating Gal-3 during pregnancy.
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