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. 2024 Apr;43(8):1385-1387.
doi: 10.1038/s44318-024-00083-8. Epub 2024 Mar 25.

Epi-regulate my brain: unlocking mechanisms of brain growth evolution

Virginia Fernández  1 , Víctor Borrell  2
Affiliations

Epi-regulate my brain: unlocking mechanisms of brain growth evolution

Virginia Fernández et al. EMBO J. 2024 Apr.

Abstract

Humans and other great apes stand out among mammals for the big size and advanced folding of their brains’ cerebral cortex. This cortex expansion during evolution has been linked to the acquisition of higher cognitive abilities and results from gene regulatory changes during fetal development. New research in The EMBO Journal implicates the growth factor EPIREGULIN and the epigenetic regulation of its expression in the evolutionary expansion of the cerebral cortex.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing interests.

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1. Evolution of the EREG locus led to brain expansion.
Changes in cis-regulatory elements (CRE) of the EPIREGULIN gene have probably occurred after the common ancestor of mice and humans, leading to its active transcription in primate cortical progenitor cells, which massively increased proliferation resulting in the expansion of primate brain size.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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