【Seminar】"Patterning the cerebral cortex by transcription factor gradients" by Dr. Shen-Ju Chou

Title:      "Patterning the cerebral cortex by transcription factor gradients"

Speaker: Dr. Shen-Ju Chou

           Research Fellow,  Institute of Cellular and Organismic Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan
 

Abstract:

The mammalian cerebral cortex is a remarkably complex organ responsible for the perception of sensory stimuli, the execution of motor actions, learning, cognition, and consciousness. To carry out these complicated functions, it is compartmentalized into multiple functional units or cortical regions, including the newly evolved neocortex and evolutionarily older paleocortex and archicortex. Each region has unique cytoarchitectures, patterns of gene expression, and distinct sets of input and output projections to perform specialized functions. As many neurological disorders assault specific types of neurons in particular brain regions, understanding the mechanisms controlling cortical regional specification will contribute to the understanding of cortical dysfunction in disease states. We study how cortical neurons acquire region-specific properties and how boundaries between cortical regions are established during development. We found that COUP-TFI, an orphan receptor expressed in a high-caudal-lateral-to-low-rostral-medial gradient in cortical progenitors, determines the size and relative position of multiple cortical regions, and the sensory areas in the neocortex. Additionally, COUP-TFI determines the integrity of the borders between abutting cortical regions. For example, by inducing protocadherin 19 expression, COUP-TFI establishes a sharp boundary between the neocortex and the medial entorhinal cortex. Our findings suggest that the expression gradients of COUP-TFI and other patterning transcription factors in the cortical progenitors play an instructive role in cortical regional specification.