Pierani Alessandra, Wassef Marion
Centre National de Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-UMR 7592, Institut Jacques Monod, Université Paris Diderot et UPMC, 2 place Jussieu, 75005 Paris, France.
Dev Growth Differ. 2009 Apr;51(3):325-42. doi: 10.1111/j.1440-169X.2009.01095.x. Epub 2009 Feb 27.
The central nervous system is composed of thousands of distinct neurons that are assembled in a highly organized structure. In order to form functional neuronal networks, distinct classes of cells have to be generated in a precise number, in a spatial and temporal hierarchy and to be positioned at specific coordinates. An exquisite coordination of appropriate growth of competent territories and their patterning is required for regionalization and neurogenesis along both the anterior-posterior and dorso-ventral axis of the developing nervous system. The neocortex represents the brain territory that has undergone a major increase in its relative size during the course of mammalian evolution. In this review we will discuss how the fine tuning of growth and cell fate patterning plays a crucial role in the achievement of the final size of central nervous system structures and how divergence might have contributed to the surface increase of the cerebral cortex in mammals. In particular, we will describe how lack of precision might have been instrumental to neocortical evolution.
中枢神经系统由数千个不同的神经元组成，这些神经元以高度有组织的结构组装在一起。为了形成功能性神经元网络，必须以精确的数量、在空间和时间层次上产生不同类型的细胞，并将它们定位在特定的坐标上。在发育中的神经系统的前后轴和背腹轴上进行区域化和神经发生，需要对有能力的区域进行适当的生长及其模式进行精确协调。新皮层代表了在哺乳动物进化过程中相对大小有显著增加的脑区。在这篇综述中，我们将讨论生长和细胞命运模式的微调如何在实现中枢神经系统结构的最终大小中发挥关键作用，以及差异如何可能导致哺乳动物大脑皮层表面的增加。特别是，我们将描述缺乏精确性如何可能对新皮层的进化起到了推动作用。
