Transgenic rhesus monkeys carrying the human MCPH1 gene copies show human-like neoteny of brain development.

ABSTRACT: Brain size and cognitive skills are the most dramatically changed traits in humans during evolution and yet the genetic mechanisms underlying these human-specific changes remain elusive. Here, we successfully generated 11 transgenic rhesus monkeys (8 first-generation and 3 second-generation) carrying human copies of MCPH1, an important gene for brain development and brain evolution. Brain-image and tissue-section analyses indicated an altered pattern of neural-cell differentiation, resulting in a delayed neuronal maturation and neural-fiber myelination of the transgenic monkeys, similar to the known evolutionary change of developmental delay (neoteny) in humans. Further brain-transcriptome and tissue-section analyses of major developmental stages showed a marked human-like expressio

SUBMITTER: Shi L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8291473 | biostudies-literature | 2019 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature