The development and evolution of inhibitory neurons in primate cerebrum

• Published in: Nature (London) 2022-03, Vol.603 (7903), p.871-877
• Main Authors: Schmitz, Matthew T., Sandoval, Kadellyn, Chen, Christopher P., Mostajo-Radji, Mohammed A., Seeley, William W., Nowakowski, Tomasz J., Ye, Chun Jimmie, Paredes, Mercedes F., Pollen, Alex A.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: 13/1; 13/51; 14/32; 38/39; 45/91; 631/136/368/2430; 631/378/2571/1696; 631/378/2571/2573; Anatomy; Animals; Biological Evolution; Brain architecture; Cell cycle; Cell division; Cerebrum; Corpus Striatum - growth & development; Dopamine receptors; Dopaminergic Neurons; Embryonic Development; Evolution; Female; Gene expression; Humanities and Social Sciences; Macaca - growth & development; Mammals; Mice; multidisciplinary; Neostriatum; Neural stem cells; Neurogenesis - physiology; Neurons; Neuropeptides; Neurotransmitter receptors; Neurotransmitters; Olfactory bulb; Olfactory Bulb - physiology; Population; Pregnancy; Prenatal development; Primates; Progenitor cells; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Substantia alba; Taxonomy; Transcription; Transcription factors; Transcriptomes
• ISSN: 0028-0836; 1476-4687
• DOI: 10.1038/s41586-022-04510-w

Neuroanatomists have long speculated that expanded primate brains contain an increased morphological diversity of inhibitory neurons (INs) 1 , and recent studies have identified primate-specific neuronal populations at the molecular level 2 . However, we know little about the developmental mechanisms that specify evolutionarily novel cell types in the brain. Here, we reconstruct gene expression trajectories specifying INs generated throughout the neurogenic period in macaques and mice by analysing the transcriptomes of 250,181 cells. We find that the initial classes of INs generated prenatally are largely conserved among mammals. Nonetheless, we identify two contrasting developmental mechanisms for specifying evolutionarily novel cell types during prenatal development. First, we show that recently identified primate-specific TAC3 striatal INs are specified by a unique transcriptional programme in progenitors followed by induction of a distinct suite of neuropeptides and neurotransmitter receptors in new-born neurons. Second, we find that multiple classes of transcriptionally conserved olfactory bulb (OB)-bound precursors are redirected to expanded primate white matter and striatum. These classes include a novel peristriatal class of striatum laureatum neurons that resemble dopaminergic periglomerular cells of the OB. We propose an evolutionary model in which conserved initial classes of neurons supplying the smaller primate OB are reused in the enlarged striatum and cortex. Together, our results provide a unified developmental taxonomy of initial classes of mammalian INs and reveal multiple developmental mechanisms for neural cell type evolution. Evolutionary modelling shows that an initial set of inhibitory neurons serving olfactory bulbs may have been repurposed to diversify the taxonomy of interneurons found in the expanded striata and cortices in primates.