Mechanisms of brain evolution: regulation of neural progenitor cell diversity and cell cycle length.
In the last few years, several studies have revisited long-held assumptions in the field of brain development and evolution providing us with a fundamentally new vision on the mechanisms controlling its size and shape, hence function. Among these studies, some described hitherto unforeseeable subtypes of neural progenitors while others reinterpreted long-known observations about their cell cycle in alternative new ways. Most remarkably, this knowledge combined has allowed the generation of mammalian model organisms in which brain size and folding has been selectively increased giving us the means to understand the mechanisms underlying the evolution of the most complex and sophisticated organ. Here we review the key findings made in this area and make a few conjectures about their evolutionary meaning including the likelihood of Martians conquering our planet.
Instituto de Neurociencias, CSIC & Universidad Miguel Hernández, Av. Ramón y Cajal s/n, San Juan de Alicante 03550, Spain. Electronic address: vborrell@umh.es.
Victor
V
Borrell
CRTD - DFG Research Center for Regenerative Therapies Dresden, Technische Universität Dresden, Fetscherstrasse 105, 01307 Dresden, Germany. Electronic address: federico.calegari@crt-dresden.de.
Federico
F
Calegari
D000818:Animals; D005075:Biological Evolution; D001921:Brain / Q000166:cytology* / Q000254:growth & development*; D002453:Cell Cycle / Q000502:physiology*; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D058953:Neural Stem Cells / Q000502:physiology*; D055495:Neurogenesis
Brain evolution; Cell cycle; Cell fate determination; Cortical architecture; Gyrification; Neural progenitor cells