Neocortical astrocyte diversity stems from distinct developmental origins
Abstract
Key regulators of neural network activity in multiple advanced cognitive processes and essential components of the blood-brain barrier, astrocytes constitute a highly heterogeneous population at the morphological, molecular, and functional levels. However, how this diversity arises during mammalian brain development remains poorly investigated. Here, using a combination of multicolour genetic fate mapping, single-cell transcriptomic analyses, multichannel large-volume imaging and detailed 3D cell morphology reconstructions, we uncover a discrete subpopulation of neocortical astrocytes generated from an early restricted embryonic domain located outside of the dorsal pallium. Besides their separate lineage from pyramidal neurons, these astrocytes exhibit a developmental trajectory that differs from astrocytes produced by dorsal cortical progenitors, including different migratory pathways, spatial distributions and morphology. Overall, our results reveal the diversity of embryonic sources responsible for neocortical astrocyte genesis and provide key insights into the unsuspected complex developmental processes that underlie cortical astrocyte heterogeneity.
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BibTeX
@misc{dumas2026neocortical,
title = {{Neocortical astrocyte diversity stems from distinct developmental origins}},
author = {Laura Dumas and Dorine Thobois and Jiafeng Zhou and Barbara Delaunay-Piednoir and Jason Durand and Inès Abdeddaim and Naim Khedair and Pauline Léger and Edson Rodrigues and Clémence Debacq and Emilie Pacary and David Ohayon and Hassan Boukhaddaoui and Martine Cohen-Salmon and Alexandre Pattyn and Riccardo Bocchi and Karine Loulier},
howpublished = {HAL},
year = {2026},
month = jul,
doi = {10.64898/2026.07.20.739583},
url = {https://hal.science/hal-05793486v1},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Neocortical astrocyte diversity stems from distinct developmental origins
AU - Laura Dumas
AU - Dorine Thobois
AU - Jiafeng Zhou
AU - Barbara Delaunay-Piednoir
AU - Jason Durand
AU - Inès Abdeddaim
AU - Naim Khedair
AU - Pauline Léger
AU - Edson Rodrigues
AU - Clémence Debacq
AU - Emilie Pacary
AU - David Ohayon
AU - Hassan Boukhaddaoui
AU - Martine Cohen-Salmon
AU - Alexandre Pattyn
AU - Riccardo Bocchi
AU - Karine Loulier
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/07/20
PB - HAL
DO - 10.64898/2026.07.20.739583
UR - https://hal.science/hal-05793486v1
AB - Key regulators of neural network activity in multiple advanced cognitive processes and essential components of the blood-brain barrier, astrocytes constitute a highly heterogeneous population at the morphological, molecular, and functional levels. However, how this diversity arises during mammalian brain development remains poorly investigated. Here, using a combination of multicolour genetic fate mapping, single-cell transcriptomic analyses, multichannel large-volume imaging and detailed 3D cell morphology reconstructions, we uncover a discrete subpopulation of neocortical astrocytes generated from an early restricted embryonic domain located outside of the dorsal pallium. Besides their separate lineage from pyramidal neurons, these astrocytes exhibit a developmental trajectory that differs from astrocytes produced by dorsal cortical progenitors, including different migratory pathways, spatial distributions and morphology. Overall, our results reveal the diversity of embryonic sources responsible for neocortical astrocyte genesis and provide key insights into the unsuspected complex developmental processes that underlie cortical astrocyte heterogeneity.
ER -