Abstract
The classic view of cortical development, embodied in the radial unit hypothesis highlights the ventricular radial glia (vRG) scaffold as a key architectonic feature of the developing neocortex. The scaffold includes continuous fibers spanning the thickness of the developing cortex during neurogenesis across mammals. However, we find that in humans, the scaffold transforms into a physically discontinuous structure during the transition from infragranular to supragranular neuron production. As a consequence of this transformation, supragranular layer neurons arrive at their terminal positions in the cortical plate along outer radial glia (oRG) cell fibers. In parallel, the radial glia that contact the ventricle develop a distinct “truncated” morphology and a unique gene expression profile. We propose a supragranular layer expansion hypothesis that posits a deterministic role of oRG cells in the radial and tangential expansion of supragranular layers in primates, with implications for patterns of neuronal migration, area patterning, and cortical folding.
Following sequential waves of induction and patterning of the neural tube, the cerebral cortical anlage emerges from the anterior neural tube. Around gestational week 7 (GW7) of human development, the founder population of neuroepithelial cells transforms into vRG cells that begin to divide asymmetrically to produce progeny that adopt neuronal fate directly, or reenter the cell cycle as intermediate progenitor cells (IPCs) (Bystron et al., 2006; Haubensak et al., 2004; Noctor et al., 2004). Upon differentiation, projection neurons migrate to their final destination in the cortical plate along the radial glia fiber scaffold (Rakic, 1972). The radial unit hypothesis postulates that neurons migrating along the same or adjacent radial glia fibers form a cortical column, and that symmetric self-renewing divisions of vRG cells expand the founder population leading to additional cortical columns and tangential expansion of the cortical sheet (Rakic, 1978). This influential model provides a crucial framework for studying the development and evolution of the cerebral cortex. However, the radial unit hypothesis does not account for the increased complexity of radial glia progenitor populations in many species, the appearance of stereotyped cortical folds during neurogenesis, and the disproportionate expansion of upper cortical layers in the primate lineage.
Interestingly, previous studies observed that at late stages of human cortical development, around gestational week 18-19 (GW18-19) vRG cells no longer contact the pia and their processes terminate in the OSVZ (deAzevedo et al., 2003; Rakic and Sidman, 1968b; Sidman and Rakic, 1973). Similarly, radial glia cells that no longer contact the pial or ventricular surfaces have been reported in rhesus macaque starting from embryonic day 65, although periventricular astrocytes do not develop until E125, after the end of neurogenesis (Schmechel and Rakic, 1979). To provide further insights into the timing of the transformation of the radial glia scaffold in relation to the neurogenic time window, we visualized radial glia morphology during human cortical development using the lipophilic fluorescent dye DiI. At early stages of neurogenesis, prior to GW 16.5, placement of DiI on the ventricular surface revealed numerous cells with classical radial glia morphology, consisting of apical and basal processes spanning the entire thickness of the telencephalic wall (Figure 1A and S1). We term this the “continuous scaffold stage”. In contrast, at later stages of neurogenesis (GW17-24), DiI labeling of the ventricular surface did not reveal cells with processes spanning the telencephalic wall (Figure 1A and S1-S2). Instead, radial glia displayed “truncated” morphologies (Rakic, 2003b), with fibers terminating abruptly in the OSVZ (Figure 1, S1 and S2). We term this the “discontinuous scaffold stage” and propose to refer to the radial glia population with non-classical morphologies as “truncated” radial glia (“tRG”, Figure 1B). Because human cortical neurogenesis extends to the third trimester (Malik et al., 2013; Workman et al., 2013), the transformation of the radial glia scaffold into a physically discontinuous structure occurs midway through the neurogenic period.
To explore whether ventricular radial glia acquire a distinct molecular identity during their morphological transition to tRG cells, we reanalyzed patterns of gene expression in radial glia collected from primary human cortical samples (Camp et al., 2015; Pollen et al., 2015). Compared to radial glia at early stages (GW14-15) and oRG cells at later stages of cortical development (GW16-18), tRG cells retain the expression of pan-radial glia markers, such as PAX6, HES1, SLC1A3, and SOX2, but develop a distinct molecular profile characterized by reduced expression of genes such as FAM107A, LIFR, and HOPX, and enriched expression of genes such as CRYAB and NR4A1 (Figure 2A-C, S3A) (Pollen et al., 2015; Thomsen et al., 2016). Consistent with DiI labeling experiments, CRYAB-immunoreactive tRG fibers extend to the OSVZ but not beyond (Figure 2D, and Figure S2), and we identified many examples of tRG fibers oriented tangentially (Figure 2E arrows). The tRG fibers often terminate on capillaries, with their end-feet encircling endothelial cells, most prominently in the ISVZ and the inner portions of the OSVZ (Figure 2E arrowheads). Finally, we observed numerous SATB2 positive nuclei adjacent to tRG fibers (Figure 2F and S3B), suggesting a role for tRGs in continuing to guide neuronal migration after the truncated fiber appears. Together, these observations indicate that at mid-neurogenesis, ventricular radial glia adopt a truncated morphology and a specific molecular program, supporting their distinction from classically-defined vRG cells.
Projection neurons that populate the distinct laminae of the cerebral cortex are produced sequentially, with deep layer neurogenesis preceding upper layer neurogenesis (Angevine and Sidman, 1961; Caviness and Rakic, 1978; Granger et al., 1995; Rakic, 1974). Studies in rodents, ferrets, and monkeys have shown that neuronal subtype specification may be determined at the level of radial glia cells, whose competence to produce diverse types of projection neurons becomes progressively restricted during development (Frantz and McConnell, 1996; Lukaszewicz et al., 2005; McConnell, 1988; McConnell and Kaznowski, 1991). In line with this prediction, genetic manipulations that extend radial glia neurogenesis in mouse result in an overproduction of upper cortical layer neurons (Nowakowski et al., 2013; Zhang et al., 2015). To relate the changes in radial glia scaffold organization to changes in the fate of neurons produced, we examined the identity of newborn neurons in the germinal zone using antibodies for the deep (infrangranular) cortical layer neuron markers, TBR1 and CTIP2, and for the marker SATB2, which is highly expressed in upper (supraganular) cortical layers. In the OSVZ of specimens younger than GW16.5, we observed prominent populations of neurons expressing TBR1, CTIP2, and SATB2 (Figure 3A). However, at stages corresponding to the discontinuous scaffold stage, we detected a prominent population of neurons expressing SATB2, but not TBR1 or CTIP2. Thus, the transformation of the radial glia scaffold from a continuous to a discontinuous structure closely parallels the well-established transition of radial glia from generating deep to generating upper layer neurons.
It has been proposed that an extended neurogenic time window underlies the radial expansion of supragranular layers in the primate lineage (Hutsler et al., 2005), and furthermore, that OSVZ progenitor cells contribute the majority of supragranular layer neurons in primates (Lukaszewicz et al., 2005; Smart et al., 2002). Indeed, the relative size of the OSVZ proliferative fraction increases as neurogenesis progresses in primates, while the frequency of mitoses in the ventricular zone decreases (Lukaszewicz et al., 2005; Martinez-Cerdeno et al., 2012; Rakic and Sidman, 1968a). Therefore, we examined whether changes in the radial glia scaffold correspond to the shift of radial glia proliferation to the OSVZ. Consistent with previous reports, we observed that the overall number of ventricular zone radial glia and mitotic figures declined towards mid-gestation, while the number of radial glia in the OSVZ steadily increased over the same period (Figure 3B-C). To examine whether the population of supragranular layer neurons continues to expand during the discontinuous scaffold stage, when oRG cells are the major proliferative population, we compared the proportion of supragranular and infragranular neurons at GW17-18 with GW23-24. The relative proportion of SATB2 positive neurons in the cortical plate at GW23-24 was significantly greater compared with GW17-18, even when migrating neurons in the intermediate zones were included in the GW17-18 cell number estimate (Figure 3D). Together, these findings suggest a shift in proliferative activity from ventricular to subventricular regions around the time of transition between the continuous and the discontinuous scaffold stages. Along with previous studies (Hansen et al., 2010; Pollen et al., 2015), this also suggests that while oRG cells contribute to the production of both deep and upper cortical layer neurons, oRG cells may be especially important for the extended production of supragranular layer neurons in primates.
The expansion of the oRG population and the truncation of ventricular radial glia fibers at mid-neurogenesis suggest that oRG cells are sole contributors of the radial glia fibers guiding neurons to the cortical plate during supragranular layer neurogenesis. Indeed, DiI placement at the pial surface after GW16.5 labeled fibers terminating in cell bodies in the OSVZ, in contrast to experiments at earlier stages that also labeled cell bodies in the VZ (Figure 4 A). In addition, immunostaining experiments at GW18 demonstrated that the vast majority of VIM-expressing radial glia fibers in the intermediate zone (IZ) and the cortical plate (CP) co-expressed the recently described oRG marker, HOPX (Figure 4B). Recent studies suggest that oRG cells emerge as the daughter cells of horizontally dividing vRG cells and thereby inherit vRG basal fibers (LaMonica et al., 2013). This highlights a possible cellular mechanism by which the radial glia fibers that contact the pia in human cortex become progressively restricted to oRG cells. Future studies will be necessary to determine if all fibers of the founder vRG cells are inherited by oRG cells, and to establish if upon symmetric division of an oRG cell, both daughter oRG cells can establish basal fiber connections with the pial surface (Florio and Huttner, 2014). Consistent with previous findings (Hansen et al., 2010), we found rare examples of oRG cells with apical processes in our study (Figure S3C-D). Together, our observations suggest a revision of the radial unit hypothesis as it applies to primates, to include a transformation of the radial glia scaffold at mid-neurogenesis from a continuous structure to a discontinuous structure formed by two morphologically and molecularly distinct radial glia subtypes (Figure 4C).
The radial unit hypothesis advanced our understanding of the cytoarchitectonic organization of the developing neocortex. Symmetric divisions of the founder vRG cells increase the number of radial fibers reaching the pial surface, leading to a tangential expansion of the cortical plate (Chenn and Walsh, 2002; Haydar et al., 1999; Rakic, 1988). Subsequent models suggested that increases in OSVZ proliferation and oRG cell numbers could contribute to tangential expansion of the cortical plate leading to folding (Kriegstein et al., 2006; Reillo et al., 2011). The revised model presented here builds on these ideas to suggest that during supragranular layer neurogenesis in humans, the total number of oRG cell fibers directly predicts the surface area of the supragranular layers. One implication of this model is that during the discontinuous scaffold stage, neurogenic divisions of oRG cells expand supragranular layers radially, while self-renewing divisions of oRG cells expand supragranular layers tangentially. Because oRG expansion during the discontinuous scaffold stage occurs throughout human neocortical areas, the revised model provides a developmental mechanism for disproportional tangential expansion of supragranular cortex relative to infragranular cortex, which may broadly contribute to the folding of the cortical plate (Richman et al., 1975).
Recent studies also suggest that local expansion of OSVZ progenitors through increased generation or self-renewal may contribute to early stereotyped folding of the cortical plate (de Juan Romero et al., 2015; Dehay et al., 1996; Dehay et al., 1989; Dehay et al., 2001; Florio et al., 2015; Kriegstein et al., 2006; Nonaka-Kinoshita et al., 2013; Stahl et al., 2013; Wang et al., 2016). In agreement with findings in the ferret cortex (Reillo and Borrell, 2012; Reillo et al., 2011), we observed fewer oRG cells underneath the human calcarine sulcus than the adjacent gyrus during mid-neurogenesis (Figure 4D). Interestingly, the ratio of IPCs to oRGs remained constant across gyri and sulci (Figure 4D), suggesting that the size of the oRG pool itself may regulate IPC abundance, as would be predicted from clonal lineage relationships (Hansen et al., 2010; Haubensak et al., 2004; Noctor et al., 2004). This early sculpting of stereotyped cortical folds through regulation of progenitor populations is compatible with later forces such as axonal tension and constrained cortical plate expansion guiding cortical folding (Mota and Herculano-Houzel, 2015; Sun and Hevner, 2014; Tallinen et al., 2016; Van Essen, 1997).
Radial glia play a fundamental role in orchestrating brain development, and congenital neurodevelopmental disorders such as microcephaly and lissencephaly have been linked to abnormalities in radial glia (Feng and Walsh, 2004; Gruber et al., 2011; Lancaster et al., 2013; Lizarraga et al., 2010; Pawlisz and Feng, 2011; Yingling et al., 2008). Transgenic mouse models of these disorders often show more subtle phenotypes than human patients, which may reflect important differences in radial glia development between these distantly related species. Future comparative studies of radial glia scaffold structure in a variety of species will be necessary to establish if the transformation of the radial glia scaffold at mid-neurogenesis is indeed primate-specific and related to cellular composition differences in upper layers, or if other mammals with large cortices share this shift in cytoarchitecture. The radial glia scaffold in the developing ferret cortex remains continuous throughout neurogenesis despite pronounced folding and expanded upper layers relative to mouse (Borrell, 2010; Reillo et al., 2011), but other mammals with folded cortices have not been examined. Therefore the full biological significance of the radial glia scaffold transformation remains to be explored.
The updated model of human cortical development outlined here has several implications for understanding patterns of neuronal migration and regionalization of the cortex, as well as connectivity of supragranular layer neurons during human cerebral cortex development. The model predicts that supragranular layer neurons born during the discontinuous scaffold stage migrate towards the cortical plate almost exclusively along oRG fibers. Because interactions between radial glia fibers and migrating neurons can impact cortical development (Elias et al., 2007; Ohtaka-Maruyama and Okado, 2015), future studies will be needed to explore whether the signals mediated by oRG basal fibers are different than those mediated by vRG and tRG fibers. In addition, increased dispersion of neurons during the discontinuous scaffold stage in primate cortex suggests that the ontogenetic relationship between supragranular layer neurons in the same cortical column would be more diverse than between infragranular layer neurons, which might have implications for establishing cortical connectivity (Yu et al., 2009). Finally, the protomap hypothesis postulates that cortical area information may be initially encoded by genetic factors in the ventricular zone (Rakic, 1988), although the map may be refined by thalamocortical innervation and sensory input (O'Leary, 1989; Rakic, 1988). The expansion of supragranular layers at stages when tRG cells are no longer a significant source of newborn neurons or of basal processes reaching the cortical plate suggests that oRG cells may retain positional information related to cortical area identity. Recent work suggests that astrocyte populations in the cerebral cortex may also be regionally restricted (Tsai et al., 2012), implying that positional information may be further retained in glia after the dissolution of the radial glia scaffold.
Our current understanding of the dynamic features of the radial glia scaffold supports a revised model of primate cerebral cortex development (Figure 5). During infragranular layer neurogenesis, when many of the neuronal types highly conserved in mammals, such as corticothalamic, corticospinal, and corticobulbar projection neurons are generated, both vRG and oRG cells are present in the germinal zone and can support radial migration. After approximately GW17 of human development, vRG cells lose pia contacting basal processes and transform into tRG cells, and newborn supragranular neurons, that establish intracortical associative and commissural projections, migrate to the cortical plate along oRG cell fibers. This updated model thus suggests a cellular mechanism for developmental and evolutionary expansion of the supragranular layers that are thought to be responsible for many of the cognitive features unique to primates.
Experimental Procedures
De-identified tissue samples were collected with previous patient consent in strict observance of the legal and institutional ethical regulations. Protocols were approved by the Human Gamete, Embryo and Stem Cell Research Committee (institutional review board) at the University of California, San Francisco. Primary tissue samples were dissected in artificial cerebrospinal fluid containing 125 mM NaCl, 2.5 mM KCl, 1 mM MgCl2, 1 mM CaCl2, 1.25 mM NaH2PO4 and fixed overnight in 4% paraformaldehyde prepared in phosphate buffered saline.
For labeling with DiI (Thermo Fisher), fixed chunks of cortical tissue samples were transferred to a dish and DiI crystals were placed against the pial, ventricular, or OSVZ surfaces, as indicated in figure legends or figure panels. The samples were then incubated in 4% paraformaldehyde for 7 days (specimens younger than GW20) or 10 days (GW24 specimen) at 37°C. GW19 sample used to visualize dye diffusion along axonal fiber tracts was incubated for 6 days at 37°C. For all analyzed samples, we inspected the tissue block under fluorescent illumination initially to assess the continuity of the radial glia scaffold. Tissue samples were then serially sectioned perpendicular to the ventricle to 500 μm slices using a Leica VT1200S vibrating blade microtome in ice cold PBS. All consecutive sections were analyzed under epifluorescent microscope to assess continuity of the radial glia scaffold through the thickness of the tissue. Representative images of the longest observed fibers were collected using Leica TCS SP5 X Confocal microscope and processed in Photoshop (Adobe) to obtain black and white inverted images for better visualization of the positive staining. Analysis was performed on a total of 11 primary tissue samples, aged GW14 (n=1), GW15 (n=1), GW15.5 (n=2), GW16.5 (n=1), GW17 (n=2), GW18 (n=2), GW19 (n=1), GW19.5 (n=1), and GW24 (n=1). Multiple consecutive 500 μm slices through GW16.5, GW17, and GW24 are shown in Figures S1 and S2 to ascertain that the reported absence of pia contacting vRG cells after GW16.5 is not a sectioning artifact.
For immunohistochemical detection of protein expression, tissue samples were cryoprotected in 30% sucrose/PBS and frozen in a 1:1 mixture of 30% sucrose and optimum cutting temperature compound (Tissue-Tek). Thin 20μm sections were collected using Leica CM3050 S cryostat. Antigen retrieval was performed in 10 mM sodium citrate buffer at pH=6. Primary antibodies against CD31 (1:100, Abcam ab76533), CRYAB (1:100, Abcam ab13496), CTIP2 (1:500, Abcam ab18465), phosphorylated histone H3 (1:100, Cell Signaling #9706), HOPX (1:100, Santa Cruz Biotechnology sc-30216), NR4A1 (1:100, Aviva Systems Biology ARP45604_P050), SATB2 (1:250, Santa Cruz Biotechnology sc-81376), SOX2 (1:200, Santa Cruz Biotechnology sc-17320), TBR1 (1:100, Abcam ab31940), VIM (1:100, Millipore AB5733) were used in this study. Blocking and antibody incubations were performed in the presence of 0.2% gelatin, 10% donkey serum, and 1% Triton X-100. Primary antibody was detected using a suitable fluorophore-conjugated donkey secondary antibody AlexaFluor (Life Technologies). Cell nuclei were counter-stained using DAPI (Life Technologies) and sections were mounted in Aqua-mount (Lerner Laboratories). Images were collected using a Leica TCS SP5 X Confocal microscope.
Quantification of cells immunopositive for phospho-Histone H3 and SOX2, as well as HOPX and EOMES shown in Figure 2 was performed manually in Photoshop in two non-adjacent regions from independent sections for each of the specimens. Counting was performed without previous knowledge of the sample age. A rectangular counting box (500 μm wide) was placed perpendicular to the ventricular edge. Anatomical region (VZ, ISVZ, and OSVZ) was determined based on nuclear density. Quantification of HOPX and VIM co-expression shown in Figure 1 was performed in Photoshop (Adobe). Narrow counting boxes (500 μm by 50 μm) were positioned over an image of VIM staining so that the 500 μm is approximately perpendicular to the radial glia fibers. For each image, one box was placed in the IZ and one in the CP. Varicosities of the radial glia fibers were marked based on VIM immunohistochemistry and then examined for HOPX staining. For each of the four biological replicates, two non-adjacent sections were chosen at random.
Quantification of projection neuron markers TBR1, CTIP2 and SATB2 shown in Figure 3 was performed in Imaris (Bitplane). For each biological replicate, two nonadjacent sections were analyzed by placing a 500 μm counting area spanning the thickness of the cortical plate. For samples aged GW17-18, we included subplate and the IZ in the counting region to include radially migrating neurons in the estimate of the size neuronal populations present at that age.
Single cell mRNA sequencing data (Camp et al., 2015; Pollen et al., 2015) were downloaded from data repositories and processed as described before (Pollen et al., 2015). Previously annotated vRG and oRG classifications were used for GW16-18 “late” radial glia types (Pollen et al., 2015). To identify GW14-15 “early” radial glia (Camp et al., 2015), hierarchical clustering of samples across key genes used for cell type classification in the developing human cortex (Pollen et al., 2015) was performed to identify cells with correlated expression of canonical radial glia markers and the absence of neuronal, intermediate progenitor, and interneuron enriched genes. Principal Component Analysis was used to identify 1000 genes most strongly contributing to transcriptional variation across principal components 1-5. Weighted Gene Coexpression Network Analysis was performed following published manual using default settings (Langfelder and Horvath, 2008). Gene modules were identified using ‘dynamicTreeCut’ package at deepSplit=2. To identify gene modules correlated with vRG and oRG cells, Pearson’s correlation value was calculated between module eigengene and an “ideal” vector with value of 1 across the cell of a given type.
Supplementary Material
Radial glia fibers form a physical scaffold that supports neuronal migration during neurogenesis. During human neurogenesis, this scaffold transforms into a physically discontinuous structure formed by two morphologically and molecularly distinct radial glia subtypes: truncated and outer radial glia.
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Radial glia scaffold of the human brain becomes discontinuous at mid-neurogenesis
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Ventricle-contacting truncated radial glia develop distinct molecular identity
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The radial glia scaffold is discontinuous during supragranular layer neurogenesis
Acknowledgement
We are grateful to Joseph LoTurco, Shaohui Wang, Jiadong Chen, Jan Hsi Lui, Bridget LaMonica, and Elizabeth Di Lullo for helpful comments, suggestions and technical help. We are additionally grateful to Arturo Alvarez-Buylla, Daniel Lim, and John Rubenstein for careful reading of the manuscript. A.A.P. is supported by a Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation postdoctoral fellowship (DRG-2166-13). This research was supported by NIH awards U01 MH105989 and R01NS075998 to A.R.K. and by a gift from Bernard Osher.
Footnotes
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Author Contribution
T.J.N conducted the experiments. A.A.P. and C.S.E. contributed data analysis. A.R.K. supervised the research. T.J.N. wrote the paper with contribution from all authors.
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