REGIONAL SPECIFICATION OF ASTROCYTE DOMAINS: FROM DEVELOPMENT TO BEHAVIOUR

人脑由两种主要的细胞类型组成：神经元和神经胶质。两者都是在发育过程中从神经干细胞衍生而来的。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，星形胶质细胞一直没有得到充分的研究，因为它们被认为只是作为通信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发挥重要作用。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如何在发育过程中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做出反应时，这种形成过程是否在成人大脑中维持。我们建议进一步探索特定群体的星形胶质细胞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不同的干细胞亚群在发育过程中和损伤后的增殖而产生的。我们将使用遗传学工具追踪带有荧光蛋白标签的星形胶质细胞亚群，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特定的星形胶质细胞亚群，并评估这如何影响正常的脑功能。 我们探索星形胶质细胞发育和功能的研究计划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. **