斯坦福医学院领导的研究团队发现，人脑并非单一统一的器官，而是由两个在发育上独立的器官组成1。研究表明，前脑和中脑源自表达Otx2基因的一种祖先细胞，而脑干则源自表达Gbx2基因的另一种完全不同的祖先细胞1。这两个神经系统细胞群体从发育最早阶段就相互排斥，从不重叠1。该发现于2024年9月18日发表在《自然神经科学》杂志上1。
研究人员Kyle Loh博士表示："我们第一次证明脑前部来自与脑后部完全不同的祖先细胞"1。这一双源脑模式并非人类独有——进化学证据显示，在过去500多万年的进化历史中，鸡、斑马鱼和橡子虫等生物也存在相同的模式1。
这项发现具有重要的临床意义。长期以来，科学家在实验室中难以培养某些脑干细胞，而新研究解释了这一现象的原因1。研究团队成功地在培养皿中培育出了功能性脑干运动神经元1，为研究脊髓肌肉萎缩症和肌萎缩侧索硬化症等疾病开辟了新途径1。其中脊髓肌肉萎缩症是1岁以下儿童死亡的主要遗传原因，而肌萎缩侧索硬化症通常在40至70岁间确诊1。
Stanford Medicine-led researchers have discovered that the human brain is not a single unified organ but rather two distinct structures with separate evolutionary origins 1. The forebrain and midbrain develop from one type of ancestral cell, while the brainstem originates from a completely different ancestral cell lineage 1. These two neural systems evolved independently over hundreds of millions of years, with the cellular populations remaining mutually exclusive from the earliest stages of development and never overlapping 1.
The finding, published in Nature Neuroscience on September 18, 2024, explains a decades-long scientific puzzle regarding why certain brainstem cells have proven difficult to cultivate in laboratory settings 1. Researchers identified that forebrain and midbrain cells express the Otx2 gene, while brainstem cells express the Gbx2 gene 1. The research team successfully grew functional brainstem motor neurons in culture dishes, opening new pathways for studying diseases including spinal muscular atrophy and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) 1. Dr. Kyle Loh stated: "We have for the first time proven that the front part of the brain comes from a completely different ancestral cell than the back part of the brain" 1. The same dual-origin brain pattern has been identified across evolutionary history spanning over five million years in organisms including chickens, zebrafish, and fruit flies 1.
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