Comparative transcriptomics reveals human-specific cortical features

Jorstad, N.L.; Song, J.H.T.; Exposito-Alonso, D.; Suresh, H.; Castro-Pacheco, N.; Krienen, F.M.; ... ; Bakken, T.E. (2023)

Article / Letter to editor

The cognitive abilities of humans are distinctive among primates, but their molecular and cellular substrates are poorly understood. We used comparative single-nucleus transcriptomics to analyze samples of the middle temporal gyrus (MTG) from adult humans, chimpanzees, gorillas, rhesus macaques, and common marmosets to understand human-specific features of the neocortex. Human, chimpanzee, and gorilla MTG showed highly similar cell-type composition and laminar organization as well as a large shift in proportions of deep-layer intratelencephalic-projecting neurons compared with macaque and marmoset MTG. Microglia, astrocytes, and oligodendrocytes had more-divergent expression across species compared with neurons or oligodendrocyte precursor cells, and neuronal expression diverged more rapidly on the human lineage. Only a few hundred genes showed human-specific patterning, suggesting that relatively few cellular and molecular changes distinctively define adult human cortical structure.

• All authors: Jorstad, N.L.; Song, J.H.T.; Exposito-Alonso, D.; Suresh, H.; Castro-Pacheco, N.; Krienen, F.M.; Yanny, A.M.; Close, J.; Gelfand, E.; Long, B.; Seeman, S.C.; Travaglini, K.J.; Basu, S.; Beaudin, M.; Bertagnolli, D.; Crow, M.; Ding, S.L.; Eggermont, J.; Glandon, A.; Goldy, J.; Kiick, K.; Kroes, T.; Mcmillen, D.; Pham, T.; Rimorin, C.; Siletti, K.; Somasundaram, S.; Tieu, M.; Torkelson, A.; Feng, G.P.; Hopkins, W.D.; Höllt, T.; Keene, C.D.; Linnarsson, S.; Mccarroll, S.A.; Lelieveldt, B.P.; Sherwood, C.C.; Smith, K.; Walsh, C.A.; Dobin, A.; Gillis, J.; Lein, E.S.; Hodge, R.D.; Bakken, T.E.
• Date: 2023-10-13
• Journal: Science
• Volume: 382
• Issue: 6667
• DOI: doi:10.1126/science.ade9516