Scientists map spinal cord development to pinpoint where brain tumors originate
Researchers have created the first detailed map of gene activity across the developing human spinal cord, revealing which cells may give rise to ependymoma, a common pediatric brain and spinal cord cancer. The findings could transform how doctors diagnose and treat the disease, potentially opening new avenues for targeted therapies that stop tumors before they start.
Originaltitel: Profiling spatiotemporal gene expression of the developing human spinal cord and implications for ependymoma origin
<p>The authors created a comprehensive developmental cell atlas for spatiotemporal gene expression of the human spinal cord, revealed species-specific regulation during development and used the atlas to infer novel markers for pediatric ependymomas. The spatiotemporal regulation of cell fate specification in the human developing spinal cord remains largely unknown. In this study, by performing integrated analysis of single-cell and spatial multi-omics data, we used 16 prenatal human samples to create a comprehensive developmental cell atlas of the spinal cord during post-conceptional weeks 5-12. This revealed how the cell fate commitment of neural progenitor cells and their spatial positioning are spatiotemporally regulated by specific gene sets. We identified unique events in human spinal cord development relative to rodents, including earlier quiescence of active neural stem cells, differential regulation of cell differentiation and distinct spatiotemporal genetic regulation of cell fate choices. In addition, by integrating our atlas with pediatric ependymomas data, we identified specific molecular signatures and lineage-specific genes of cancer stem cells during progression. Thus, we delineate spatiotemporal genetic regulation of human spinal cord development and leverage these data to gain disease insight.</p>