Overview
- The Nature Neuroscience paper, published Sept. 18, reported that two mutually exclusive progenitor populations in early embryos—Otx2+ anterior cells and Gbx2+ posterior cells—give rise to the forebrain/midbrain and the hindbrain, respectively.
- Researchers found the two populations carry different chromatin configurations that limit which genes are accessible and appear to commit each group to separate developmental fates from the gastrulation stage.
- Using that developmental insight, the Stanford team directed human pluripotent stem cells to become functional hindbrain motor neurons that fired action potentials and expressed proteins linked to facial and swallowing motor segments.
- External experts note key caveats: some say a very brief common progenitor or transient cell‑fate plasticity could explain the observations, and follow‑up experiments on spinal‑cord origins and broader cross‑species validation are planned or needed.
- The finding could ease study of conditions such as spinal muscular atrophy and ALS because hindbrain neurons control breathing and swallowing and were previously hard to grow in the lab, and the team reports the two‑origin pattern across chickens, zebrafish and acorn worms suggesting deep evolutionary conservation.