小柯机器人

英国剑桥大学Madeline A. Lancaster、Iva Kelava等研究人员合作发现，雄性激素增加人脑类器官的兴奋性神经源性潜能。该研究于2022年1月19日在线发表于国际一流学术期刊《自然》。

研究人员用脑类器官发现，虽然性染色体的补充对神经发生没有明显的影响，但性类固醇（即雄性激素）导致皮质祖细胞的增殖和神经源性库的增加。转录组分析和功能研究证明了对组蛋白去乙酰化酶活性和mTOR途径的下游影响。最后，研究人员表明，雄性激素特异性增加了兴奋性神经元祖细胞的神经源性输出，而抑制性神经元祖细胞则没有增加。这些发现揭示了雄性激素在调节兴奋性神经元数量方面的作用，并代表着向了解人类与性别有关大脑差异的起源迈出了一步。

据了解，在人类中，男女大脑差异的生物学基础一直难以阐明。最明显的形态学差异是大小，男性个体的大脑平均比女性个体大，但对这种差异如何产生的机理理解仍然是未知的。

附：英文原文

Title: Androgens increase excitatory neurogenic potential in human brain organoids

Author: Kelava, Iva, Chiaradia, Ilaria, Pellegrini, Laura, Kalinka, Alex T., Lancaster, Madeline A.

Issue&Volume: 2022-01-19

Abstract: The biological basis of male–female brain differences has been difficult to elucidate in humans. The most notable morphological difference is size, with male individuals having on average a larger brain than female individuals1,2, but a mechanistic understanding of how this difference arises remains unknown. Here we use brain organoids3 to show that although sex chromosomal complement has no observable effect on neurogenesis, sex steroids—namely androgens—lead to increased proliferation of cortical progenitors and an increased neurogenic pool. Transcriptomic analysis and functional studies demonstrate downstream effects on histone deacetylase activity and the mTOR pathway. Finally, we show that androgens specifically increase the neurogenic output of excitatory neuronal progenitors, whereas inhibitory neuronal progenitors are not increased. These findings reveal a role for androgens in regulating the number of excitatory neurons and represent a step towards understanding the origin of sex-related brain differences in humans.

DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-04330-4

Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-04330-4

Nature：《自然》，创刊于1869年。隶属于施普林格·自然出版集团，最新IF：69.504
官方网址：http://www.nature.com/
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