Speaker: Carmen Falcone, University of California, Davis, postdoctoral researcher in Verónica Martínez Cerdeño lab 

Title: "Evolution and development of a special type of astrocytes in mammals: Interlaminar Astrocytes"

Abstract: Interlaminar astrocytes (ILAs) are an astrocyte subtype in the cerebral cortex that have a soma in layer I and long interlaminar processes that course perpendicular to the pia into deeper cortical layers. We  performed a comparative study of ILAs in 46 species encompassing most orders of mammals. We found that ILAs are present in all mammals and not only in primates as previously described, but that primates have the highest number of ILAs and the most morphologically complex ILAs. We distinguished 2 types of ILAs: rudimentary pial ILAs, that have short GFAP+ processes constrained to layer I, and typical pial ILAs that have long GFAP+ processes that exit layer I and extend into deeper cortical layers. ILAs have been described in postnatal animals, but exactly when they appear during development had not been determined. We studied ILA developmental origin and differentiation of ILAs in the prenatal and postnatal cortex by analyzing GFAP+ and S100b+ ILAs in mouse, rhesus macaque, chimpanzee, and human. We found that ILAs are present in the prenatal brain, and increase in number and morphological complexity throughout development. We compared the expression of specific markers in ILAs across development in mouse and macaque and found some similarities in protein expression by mouse rudimentary ILAs and macaque typical ILAs, but noted key differences that may indicate distinct functions across species. We hypothesize that ILAs are generated by radial glial (RG) cells in the prenatal brain, via direct or indirect steps. These data provide new information on ILA astrogenesis and function in the developing cerebral cortex.

Webex Link: https://iastate.webex.com/iastate/j.php?MTID=m4ccf329b3fc906659356f2871fdaa865

Sept. 24, 2021, GDCB Promising Scientist Seminar: Carmen Falcone

Fall 2021 GDCB Grad Student-Postdoc-Staff Seminar/GDCB Promising Scientist Seminar flyer