REGIONAL SPECIFICATION OF ASTROCYTE DOMAINS: FROM DEVELOPMENT TO BEHAVIOUR

人脑主要由两种细胞组成：神经元和神经胶质细胞。两者都来源于发育过程中的神经干细胞。星形胶质细胞是神经胶质细胞的一种，是大脑中最丰富的细胞。然而，从历史上看，星形胶质细胞的研究还不够充分，因为它们被认为只是作为通讯神经元正常功能的支持细胞。星形胶质细胞已被证明在大脑的正常运作中起着重要作用。与神经元类似，它们是一组多样化的细胞，但人们对它们如何实现这种多样性以及这与大脑功能的关系知之甚少。我们的研究旨在了解干细胞在发育过程中如何在大脑的不同区域产生星形胶质细胞，以及当星形胶质细胞对损伤作出反应时，这一形成过程是否在成年大脑中维持。我们建议进一步探索星形胶质细胞的特定群体如何影响正常的脑功能。我们假设星形胶质细胞的多样性是通过干细胞在发育期间和损伤后不同亚群的增殖而产生的。我们将使用遗传工具追踪星形胶质细胞亚群与荧光蛋白标签，并绘制它们与神经干细胞的关系。此外，我们将使用消融和重编程策略来消除星形胶质细胞的特定亚群，并评估这对正常脑功能的影响。我们的研究项目探索星形胶质细胞的发育和功能将在神经发育领域产生重大影响。

The human brain is composed of two main cell types: neurons and glia. Both are derived from neural stem cells during development. Astrocytes, one type of glial cells, are the most abundant cells in the brain. Historically, however, astrocytes have been understudied, as they were thought only to serve as support cells for the proper function of the communicating neurons. Astrocytes have since been shown to play a major role in the proper functioning of the brain. Similar to neurons, they are a diverse group of cells, but little is known about how they achieve this diversity and how this relates to brain function. Our study aims to understand how stem cells give rise to astrocytes in different regions of the brain during development, and whether this formative process is maintained in the adult brain when astrocytes respond to injury. We propose to further explore how specific populations of astrocytes influence normal brain function. We hypothesize that astrocyte diversity is derived through the proliferation of distinct subpopulations of stem cells during development and following injury. We will use genetic tools to trace subpopulations of astrocytes with fluorescent protein tags and map their relationships with the neural stem cells. In addition, we will use ablation and reprogramming strategies to eliminate specific subpopulations of astrocytes and assess how this impacts the normal brain function. Our research program exploring astrocyte development and function will have significant impact in the field of neurodevelopment.