@article {10.7554/eLife.18197, article_type = {journal}, title = {The hominoid-specific gene \textit{TBC1D3} promotes generation of basal neural progenitors and induces cortical folding in mice}, author = {Ju, Xiang-Chun and Hou, Qiong-Qiong and Sheng, Ai-Li and Wu, Kong-Yan and Zhou, Yang and Jin, Ying and Wen, Tieqiao and Yang, Zhengang and Wang, Xiaoqun and Luo, Zhen-Ge}, editor = {Gleeson, Joseph G}, volume = 5, year = 2016, month = {aug}, pub_date = {2016-08-09}, pages = {e18197}, citation = {eLife 2016;5:e18197}, doi = {10.7554/eLife.18197}, url = {https://doi.org/10.7554/eLife.18197}, abstract = {Cortical expansion and folding are often linked to the evolution of higher intelligence, but molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying cortical folding remain poorly understood. The hominoid-specific gene \textit{TBC1D3} undergoes segmental duplications during hominoid evolution, but its role in brain development has not been explored. Here, we found that expression of \textit{TBC1D3} in ventricular cortical progenitors of mice via \textit{in utero} electroporation caused delamination of ventricular radial glia cells (vRGs) and promoted generation of self-renewing basal progenitors with typical morphology of outer radial glia (oRG), which are most abundant in primates. Furthermore, down-regulation of \textit{TBC1D3} in cultured human brain slices decreased generation of oRGs. Interestingly, localized oRG proliferation resulting from either \textit{in utero} electroporation or transgenic expression of TBC1D3, was often found to underlie cortical regions exhibiting folding. Thus, we have identified a hominoid gene that is required for oRG generation in regulating the cortical expansion and folding.}, keywords = {neural progenitors, cortical folding, hominoid-specific gene}, journal = {eLife}, issn = {2050-084X}, publisher = {eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd}, }