Human nerve cells originated from urine enable students in the Ernst laboratory to model neurodevelopmental disease such as FOXG1 syndrome. This image reveals a large cluster of neuronal cells that are colored for genes known to be expressed in brain cells. Once created, these neurons can be utilized to study developmental processes, test drugs, or genetically engineer changes to gene items that may lack illness such as FOXG1 syndrome. Credit: Nuwan Hettige
Controlling how cells grow is essential to making sure correct brain development and stopping aggressive brain tumors. The network of molecules that control brain cell growth is believed to be intricate and huge, and now McGill University researchers offer striking proof of a single gene that can, by itself, manage brain cell growth in human beings.
In a paper released recently in Stem Cell reports, Carl Ernst, an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at McGill University and his group have actually shown that the loss of the FOXG1 gene in brain cells from patients with severe microcephaly– an illness where the brain does not grow big enough– reduces brain cell growth. Using genetic modification, they turned on FOXG1 in cells from a microcephaly client to various levels and showed matching boosts in brain cell growth. They have discovered an exceptional dimmer switch to turn brain cell development up or down.
Their research study suggests that a single gene might possibly be targeted to stop brain tumor cells from growing. Or that future gene treatment might allow this same gene to be shown up in patients with microcephaly or other neurodevelopmental disorders.
Reference: “FOXG1 dosage tunes cell proliferation dynamics in human forebrain progenitor cells” by Nuwan C. Hettige, Huashan Peng, Hanrong Wu, Xin Zhang, Volodymyr Yerko, Ying Zhang, Malvin Jefri, Vincent Soubannier, Gilles Maussion, Shaima Alsuwaidi, Anjie Ni, Cecilia Rocha, Jeyashree Krishnan, Vincent McCarty, Lilit Antonyan, Andreas Schuppert, Gustavo Turecki, Edward A. Fon, Thomas M. Durcan and Carl Ernst, 10 February 2022, Stem Cell Reports.DOI: 10.1016/ j.stemcr.2022.01.010.