Simultaneous production of diverse neuronal subtypes during early corticogenesis

Abstract

The circuits of the neocortex are composed of a broad diversity of neuronal cell types, which can be distinguished by their laminar location, molecular identity, and connectivity. During embryogenesis, successive generations of glutamatergic neurons are sequentially born from progenitors located in germinal zones below the cortex. In this process, the earliest-born generations of neurons differentiate to reside in deep layers, while later-born daughter neurons reside in more superficial layers. Although the aggregate competence of progenitors to produce successive subtypes of neurons progresses as corticogenesis proceeds, a fine-grained temporal understanding of how neuronal subtypes are sequentially produced is still missing. Here, we use FlashTag, a high temporal resolution labeling approach, to follow the fate of the simultaneously-born daughter neurons of ventricular zone progenitors at multiple stages of corticogenesis. Our findings reveal a bimodal regulation in the diversity of neurons being produced at single time points of corticogenesis. Initially, distinct subtypes of deep-layer neurons are simultaneously produced, as defined by their laminar location, molecular identity and connectivity. Later on, instead, instantaneous neuronal production is homogeneous and the distinct superficial-layer neurons subtypes are sequentially produced. These findings suggest that early-born, deep-layer neurons have a less determined fate potential than later-born superficial layer neurons, which may reflect the progressive implementation of pre-and/or post-mitotic mechanisms controlling neuronal fate reliability.