{
  "abstract": ". These structural differences may reflect evolutionary changes in the developmental expression of shared genes. Here, to investigate this possibility, we used machine vision to identify and compare cell-type-specific gene expression patterns in the developing mouse and human neocortex, and in human cortical organoids. Using this approach, we identified genes with evolutionarily conserved or divergent transcriptional regulation, revealing species-specific cyto-temporal gene expression patterns. Among such genes, the transcription factor gene JUNB showed mutually exclusive expression in human progenitors and mouse neurons. Through cell-type-specific gain- and loss-of-function experiments in mice and human cortical organoids, we show that JUNB bidirectionally controls human cortical features, including progenitor proliferation rates, neuronal production timing and total neuronal output. We identify IRF1 as a human radial glia-specific regulator that, when expressed in mouse radial glia, activates JUNB and recruits human-like gene regulatory networks, demonstrating cross-species activation of poised developmental programmes. Together, these findings reveal how cyto-temporal regulation of shared genes drives species-specific cortical features, and provide a molecular framework for understanding and manipulating these evolutionary programmes.",
  "abstract_shown": true,
  "affiliations": [
    "Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland",
    "Institute for Applied Data Science and Finance, Bern University of Applied Sciences, Bern, Switzerland",
    "Division of Physiological Genomics, Biomedical Center (BMC), Faculty of Medicine, Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU), Munich, Germany",
    "NeuroNA Human Cellular Neuroscience Platform, Fondation Campus Biotech Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland",
    "Laboratory of Molecular Regulation of Neurogenesis, GIGA Institute, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium",
    "Walloon Excellence in Life Sciences and Biotechnology (WELBIO) Department, WEL Research Institute, Wavre, Belgium",
    "Max Planck Institute of Psychiatry, Munich, Germany",
    "Munich Cluster for Systems Neurology (SyNergy), Munich, Germany",
    "Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. denis.jabaudon@unige.ch",
    "Department of Clinical Neurosciences, Geneva University Hospital, Geneva, Switzerland. denis.jabaudon@unige.ch",
    "Imagine Institute, Université Paris Cité, Paris, France. denis.jabaudon@unige.ch",
    "Department of Basic Neurosciences, University of Geneva, Geneva, Switzerland. esther.klingler@kuleuven.be",
    "KU Leuven Department of Neurosciences, Leuven Brain Institute, Leuven Institute for Single Cell Omics, Leuven, Belgium. esther.klingler@kuleuven.be",
    "VIB Center for Neuroscience Leuven, Leuven, Belgium. esther.klingler@kuleuven.be"
  ],
  "article_type": null,
  "arxiv": null,
  "author_total": 12,
  "authors": [
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Awais Javed",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-2686-8006"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        1
      ],
      "name": "Lucía Gómez",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3914-8868"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2
      ],
      "name": "Veronica M. Pravatà",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-0081-9310"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Moein Sarhadi",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-3200-2276"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Quentin Lo Giudice",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-4225-0628"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0
      ],
      "name": "Timéa Szalai"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Léa Aubert",
      "orcid": "0009-0009-6459-1122"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        0,
        3
      ],
      "name": "Théo Ribierre",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-5003-0991"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        4,
        5
      ],
      "name": "Laurent Nguyen",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-8560-3008"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        2,
        6,
        7
      ],
      "name": "Silvia Cappello",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-1553-6775"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        8,
        9,
        10
      ],
      "name": "Denis Jabaudon",
      "orcid": "0000-0003-2438-4769"
    },
    {
      "affs": [
        11,
        12,
        13
      ],
      "name": "Esther Klingler",
      "orcid": "0000-0002-6577-1362"
    }
  ],
  "bibtex": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e6nz7rgtpk5h5.bib",
  "cited_by": 10,
  "doi": "10.1038/s41586-026-10491-x",
  "fulltext_url": null,
  "id": "e6nz7rgtpk5h5",
  "issns": [
    "0028-0836",
    "1476-4687"
  ],
  "landing_url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10491-x",
  "language": "en",
  "licence": "CC-BY",
  "licence_label": "CC BY",
  "licence_source": "journal",
  "licence_url": "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/",
  "metadata_licence": null,
  "native_subjects": [
    [
      "openalex",
      "2806|Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms"
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  "openalex": "W4407758415",
  "pdf_url": null,
  "pmcid": "PMC13661261",
  "pmid": "42129570",
  "published": "2026-05-13",
  "publisher": "Nature Portfolio",
  "ris": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e6nz7rgtpk5h5.ris",
  "sources": [
    {
      "first_seen": "2026-10-30T13:26:53Z",
      "native_id": "W4407758415",
      "source": "openalex",
      "url": "https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10491-x"
    }
  ],
  "subjects": [
    {
      "field": "biology",
      "origin": "openalex:2806|Neurogenesis and neuroplasticity mechanisms",
      "subfield": "neuroscience"
    }
  ],
  "title": "Developmental gene expression patterns driving species-specific cortical features",
  "title_text": "Developmental gene expression patterns driving species-specific cortical features",
  "type": "peer-reviewed",
  "updated_at": "2026-11-09T13:21:12Z",
  "url": "https://research.draconitic.com/paper/e6nz7rgtpk5h5",
  "venue": "Nature",
  "versions": []
}