本研究では、発生時計依存的に産生され、脳表面の辺縁帯直下へと移動してくる大脳皮質ニューロンが、細胞周囲の場との連携を通してその動きや分化運命が制御される機構を明らかにすることを目指した。その結果、辺縁帯から分泌される分子が複数の受容体を使い分けてニューロン移動の適切な停止や凝集を制御して層形成を実現することや、発生時計による制御に加えて移動後の場からのシグナルによって最終的な分化運命が調整される機構の一端が明らかになった。
In the developing cortex, different types of cells are generated from neural stem/progenitor cells depending on the "developmental clock", and move toward their final destinations. The aim of this study was to clarify how the neuronal migration and differentiation are regulated through interactions with the surrounding cellular environment. As the results, we found that the migrating neurons receive an extracellular signal in the marginal zone to achieve the layer formation through interacting with multiple receptors, one for the termination of migration and another for enabling cellular aggregation. We also found that the neuronal identity in the cerebral cortex is not completely determined just by when the cells are born but also by the cellular environment that they find themselves in. It is thus thought that the cortex is formed through interplay between the cellular clock and the microenvironment.

研究種目 : 新学術領域研究 (研究領域提案型)
研究期間 : 2016～2020
課題番号 : 16H06482
研究分野 : 発生神経生物学