2. Academic Validation
  3. Subventricular zone radial glial cells maintain inhibitory neuron production in the human brain

Subventricular zone radial glial cells maintain inhibitory neuron production in the human brain

  • Science. 2026 Jan 15;391(6782):eadw1803. doi: 10.1126/science.adw1803.
Longzhong Jia # 1,  Xiaohan Li # 1,  Yiming Yan # 1,  Linhe Xu # 1,  Jianbin Guo # 2 3,  Weichao Wang 1,  Weirong Zhang 1,  Lianyan Li 1,  Borui Shang 1,  Yiwei Zhang 2,  Yashan Dang 1,  Yuyan Zeng 1,  Zhiyan Liao 1,  Ruijuan Liang 1,  Li Gu 1,  Chenyi He 1,  Zhen Long 1,  Hanqing Hou 1,  Yuhan Zhou 1,  Mingchao Yan 4,  Wei Huang 4,  Lan Zhu 2,  Da Mi 1
Affiliations

Affiliations

  • 1 State Key Laboratory of Membrane Biology, IDG/McGovern Institute for Brain Research, Tsinghua-Peking Joint Centre for Life Sciences, School of Life Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
  • 2 Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, National Clinical Research Center for Obstetric & Gynecologic Diseases, State Key Laboratory of Common Mechanism Research of Major Diseases, Peking Union Medical College Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, Beijing, China.
  • 3 Department of Gynecology and Obstetrics, Shandong Key Laboratory of Reproductive Research and Birth Defect Prevention, Shandong Provincial Hospital Affiliated to Shandong First Medical University, Jinan, Shandong, China.
  • 4 State Key Laboratory of Neuroscience, Institute of Neuroscience, Center for Excellence in Brain Science and Intelligence Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shanghai, China.
  • # Contributed equally.
PMID: 41538440 DOI: 10.1126/science.adw1803
Abstract

The number and diversity of inhibitory neurons (INs) increased substantially during mammalian brain evolution. However, the generative mechanisms of the vast repertoire of human INs remain elusive. We performed spatial and single-cell transcriptomics of human medial ganglionic eminence (hMGE), a pivotal source of cortical and subpallial INs, and built the trajectories of hMGE-derived cells during brain development. We identified spatiotemporally and molecularly segregated progenitor cell populations fated to produce distinct IN types. We uncovered an evolutionarily distinct progenitor cell type in the hMGE subventricular zone that maintained the production of INs and glial cells throughout human brain development. Our findings reveal evolutionarily distinct features of IN generation and shed light on the distinct mechanisms underlying human brain development.

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