A world first human brain cell map has been developed in Australia. 

Scientists have developed a world-first map showing gene activity changes in diverse human brain cell types from pre-birth to adulthood. 

By having this map of normal brain cell development, researchers will now be able to identify altered states more accurately in neurological and psychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia, or aberrant cell states in diseases such as brain cancer.

The map was developed by a team of Perth researchers at the Harry Perkins Institute of Medical Research and The University of Western Australia.

The human brain contains many billions of cells, and a huge diversity of different cell types, each with their own specialised functions. But this takes a long time to build, with brain maturation continuing into the third decade of life.

“Through this long process our cognitive abilities emerge, grow, change, and advance. Think of the enormous differences in what an adult can do, compared to a child, toddler, or newborn,” researcher leader Professor Ryan Lister says.

“Underpinning these advances are complex changes in the cells of our brain, as they migrate, grow, form and refine connections, and communicate. Importantly, these changes require the correct control and timing of gene activity, and our new work provides the first reference map of this.”

“Before now, there was a major gap in our knowledge of gene activity and factors controlling it in the brain between birth and adulthood,” fellow researcher Dr Rebecca Simmons explained.

“We obtained post-mortem brain tissue from neurotypical individuals and used new technologies for mapping gene activity at single cell resolution to track each individual type of cell as we develop and age,” she said.

“Different neurological and psychiatric diseases emerge at specific times during development, such as autism spectrum disorders in the early years or neuropsychiatric disorders such as schizophrenia emerging in the teens sometimes, so there are common time periods during development where certain disorders emerge and they will have a cellular basis,” Dr Saskia Freytag said.

“These maps are helping us to better understand brain disorders, and to develop improved models of brain cells for modelling diseases and new drug discovery.” Professor Lister said.

Dr Daniel Poppe said: “It will be a great resource for neurologists, neuroscientists, and those working in developmental biology. Most disorders affecting the brain progress over time, so these findings could allow researchers to identify initial events before these diseases manifest. This would enable earlier intervention in the future”.

Professor Lister is a pioneer in the field of epigenomics, the study of the molecular code that controls gene activity. He generated the world’s first comprehensive maps of the human epigenome, and his ground-breaking research in plant and animal systems has advanced our understanding of genome regulation, stem cell biology, and brain development.

More details are accessible here.