Temporal patterning of apical progenitors and their daughter neurons in the developing neocortex

Origins of neuronal diversity Although the main task of a neuroprogenitor is to produce more cells, it may not always produce the same cells. Some progenitors produce different daughter neurons as an embryo develops. Concurrently, these daughter neurons are also transitioning through states toward maturation. Telley et al. used single-cell RNA sequencing to survey the transcriptional identity of cells early in mouse brain development. As a neuroprogenitor transitioned to new states, it produced daughter neurons that reflect those new states. The neuron's own postmitotic differentiation program is apparently overlaid onto these parentally supplied programs, driving emergence of specialized neuronal cell types in the neocortex. Science , this issue p. eaav2522