Science's big cover: Chinese team releases the world's first brain regeneration map!

Is it true that the human brain can only develop 10%?

#In the movie "Super Body", the heroine Lucy develops 100% of her brain potential by accident.

With the rapid evolution of her body, she has mastered more and more superpowers: mastering foreign languages ​​instantly, using Brain waves can move objects through space and change the shape of objects at will...

If you want your brain's neurons to continue to develop One possibility is that our brain cells have the ability to regenerate.

#Currently, the only creature in the world that can regenerate its brain is the silly and cute "mythical beast" the salamander.

#But, can humans achieve brain regeneration?

#Recently, a team led by the BGI Life Sciences Institute completed the first spatiotemporal map of salamander brain regeneration, revealing how brain damage heals itself.

# This is the world’s first space-time map of brain regeneration, and the research results were published on the cover of Science on September 2.

The first space-time map of brain regeneration

When it comes to regeneration ability, lizards can no longer regenerate their tails. strange.

In addition, bat wings, zebrafish hearts, shark teeth, starfish limbs... can all be regenerated.

# Only the ability of biological "brains" to regenerate fascinates scientists.

This articleSingle-cell Stereo-seq reveals induced progenitor cells involved in axolotl brain regeneration introduces us to axolotl brain regeneration Space-time map.

Paper address: https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.abp9444

#To study brain regeneration, we must find a suitable model to conduct research.

#In the end, the research team chose the only creature in the world that can regenerate its brain - the Mexican axolotl.

It is a type of salamander, also known as the "Hexagonal Dinosaur". In addition to being able to regenerate limbs, tails, eyes, skin, liver and other organs In addition, the brain can also regenerate.

##Development and regeneration of the telencephalon of the salamander

Couldn’t this be used by scientists as an important model organism to study problems related to regeneration?

Here we have to mention the key technology of this research - spatiotemporal omics technology (Stereo-seq).

With this technology, scientists can take photos that can clearly see the changing status of cell molecules during the six important periods of axolotl brain development. A spatial and temporal map of brain development in salamanders.

#Brain regeneration requires the coordination of complex responses in a time- and region-specific manner. Identifying the cell types and molecules involved in this process will advance scientists' understanding of brain regeneration.

# However, progress in this field has been hampered by the limited regenerative capacity of the mammalian brain and the incomplete mechanistic understanding of the regenerative process at the cellular and molecular levels. be hindered. The aforementioned Mexican axolotl can regenerate damaged appendages and multiple internal organs, including the brain.

# Therefore, this salamander has become an ideal model for scientists to study brain regeneration. To understand the mechanisms of brain regeneration, scientists also need research tools that enable large-scale data collection and analysis to simultaneously decode complex cellular and molecular responses.

#First of all, scientists believe that if brain regeneration and development processes are compared in the study, it will help provide a new understanding of the nature of brain regeneration.

#So the research team removed a small portion of the lateral palate region of the left telencephalon of axonids and collected tissue samples from multiple stages of the regeneration process. Tissue samples from the axozoan telencephalon at multiple stages of development were then collected.

#The researchers then used high-definition and large-field Stereo-seq technology to generate single slices from slices covering both hemispheres of the telencephalon Spatial transcriptomic data at cellular resolution. Cell type annotation, cell spatial organization, gene activity dynamics, and cell state transitions were analyzed, and mechanistic studies of damage-induced regeneration compared to these cellular properties during development were performed. Using Stereo-seq, the scientists generated spatial transcriptomic data for a set of telencephalon slices covering six developmental stages and seven damage-induced regeneration stages of the axolotl.

Single-cell resolution data allowed researchers to identify 33 cell types present during development and involved in regeneration of 28 cell types, including different types of excitatory and inhibitory neurons, as well as several ectodermal cell subtypes.

Developmentally, the data reveal a primitive type of epithelium that may give rise to three subpopulations of adult epithelial cells that are distributed in the ventricular zone Different regions have different molecular characteristics and potential functions.

#In terms of regeneration, the research team discovered a subpopulation of epithelial cells that may originate from local resident epithelial cells activated by injury. This population of cells may then proliferate to cover the wound area, subsequently replenishing lost neurons through state transitions to intermediate progenitors, immature neurons, and ultimately mature neurons.

When comparing the cellular and molecular dynamics of the axonal animal telencephalon between development and regeneration, scientists discovered that damage-induced epithelial cells have significant changes in their transcriptomic states. Aspects are similar to developmental stage-specific epithelial cells.

#At the same time, the research team also observed that the regeneration of the axonal telencephalon behaves similarly to that in development in terms of molecular cascades and potential cell line switching. patterns of neurogenesis, suggesting that brain regeneration partially recapitulates developmental processes. Spatial transcriptomic data highlight cellular and molecular features of the axonal telencephalon during development and injury-induced regeneration. Further characterization of the activation and functional regulation of epithelial cells may yield insights into improving the regenerative capacity of the mammalian brain.

The research team's study of the single-cell spatial transcriptome of the tetrapod telencephalon provides useful information for further research on developmental, regenerative and evolutionary brain biology. The data.

Is brain regeneration a reality?

You must know that the human brain has 86 billion neurons, which are connected to each other.

Dr. Yin Gu, joint corresponding author of the paper and deputy director of BGI-Research, said,

Using the axolotl as a model organism, we have identified key cell types during brain regeneration. This discovery will provide new ideas and guidance for regenerative medicine of the mammalian nervous system.

Therefore, a major goal of regenerative medicine in the central nervous system is to reconstruct not only the spatial structure of neurons but also the specific patterns of connections within their tissues .

#In future studies, it will be important to reconstruct the 3D structure of the brain and understand the systematic response of various brain regions during the regeneration process.

Scientists have long dreamed of understanding how the nervous system works by mapping the structure of the entire brain's neural network.

For example, Google reconstructed the 3D model of Drosophila brain neurons for the first time in 2019, and then announced the Drosophila "half-brain" the following year. Connection group.

#Now, they have released a human brain imaging data set.

Through this data set, people can see 130 million synapses and tens of thousands of neuron samples , can help people understand the 3D structure of the brain.

In addition to axolotls, scientists have used spatiotemporal omics technology to map the embryos of four model organisms: mouse, zebrafish, fruit fly, and Arabidopsis for the first time. Spatiotemporal maps of development or organs.

#Currently, the research results have been published in Cell and its sub-journal Developmental Cell.

Regarding the research on brain regeneration, netizens are optimistic about its future development.

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