News Releases & Research Results Elucidation of brain patterning - A mechanism of distinct formation of the cerebral cortex and the basal ganglia -

The results of research conducted by Graduate student Hikaru Eto, Lecturer Yusuke Kishi, and Professor Yukiko Gotoh of the Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, the University of Tokyo.

• The mechanisms of early differentiation of dorsal neural stem cells responsible for cerebral cortex formation and ventral neural stem cells responsible for basal ganglia formation during cerebral development were elucidated.
• Specifically, a molecule called morphogen, involved in neuronal positioning, is critical for brain patterning. A Polycomb group (PcG) protein complex was found to be responsible for the site-specific expression of a morphogen.
• The results of this research project should facilitate the elucidation of the onset mechanism of mental retardation, including autism, caused by an imbalance between excitatory and inhibitory neurons.

This project was conducted with the support of the Advanced Research and Development Programs for Medical Innovation (AMED-CREST) by AMED.

The results were published in the American scientific journal Nature Communications on November 11.

Eto H., et al. The Polycomb group protein Ring1 regulates dorsoventral patterning of the mouse telencephalon Nature Communications
DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-19556-5