Mapping how the spinal cord is formed provides new knowledge about diseases of the nervous system

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The researchers also studied an unusual tumor called ependymoma, which appears as malignant brain tumors in children or benign spinal cord tumors in adults. They were then able to identify the genes involved in tumor development, thus demonstrating how the findings can be used to increase knowledge about diseases of the nervous system.

– We will now continue to study how stem cells form different types of cells and change their properties during embryonic development, during late maturation and aging, as well as in various disease states, says the latest authors of the study Eric SundstromSenior Research Fellow in the Department of Neuroscience, Health Sciences and Society, Karolinska Institutet.

The study was carried out in collaboration with researchers at KTH, Stockholm University, Uppsala University and the Science for Life Laboratory (SciLifeLab). The research was funded by the Erling Persson Foundation, the Knut and Alice Wallenberg’s Foundation, Karolinska Institutet and SciLifeLab. Co-authors Zaneta Andrusivova, Ludvig Larsson, and Joakim Lundeberg are consultants to 10x Genomics Inc, and Mats Nilsson is a consultant to the same firm.

Publishing

“Spatiotemporal gene expression profiling of human spinal cord development and implications for the origin of ependymoma”. Xiaofei Li, Zaneta Andrusivova, Paulo Czarnewski, Christoffer Mattsson Langseth, Alma Andersson, Yang Liu, Daniel Gyllborg, Emelie Braun, Ludvig Larsson, Lijuan Hu, Zhanna Alekseenko, Hower Lee, Christophe Avenel, Helena Koppet KallÅner, Iisabgork, Mats Nilsson, Sten Linnarsson Joachim Lundberg, Eric Sundström. Natural neuroscienceonline Apr 24, 2023 doi: 10.1038/s41593-023-01312-9.