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  • Hs make more neocortex neurons than big brained neanderthals

    From DD'eDeN aka note/nickname/alas_my_l@21:1/5 to All on Thu Sep 8 14:31:07 2022
    Researchers from the Max Planck Institute of Molecular Cell Biology and Genetics (MPI-CBG) in Dresden now show that the modern human variant of the protein TKTL1, which differs by only a single amino acid from the Neandertal variant, increases one type
    of brain progenitor cells, called basal radial glia, in the modern human brain. Basal radial glial cells generate the majority of the neurons in the developing neocortex, a part of the brain that is crucial for many cognitive abilities. As TKTL1 activity
    is particularly high in the frontal lobe of the fetal human brain, the researchers conclude that this single human-specific amino acid substitution in TKTL1 underlies a greater neuron production in the developing frontal lobe of the neocortex in modern
    humans than Neandertals.

    Only a small number of proteins have differences in the sequence of their amino acids—the building blocks of proteins—between modern humans and our extinct relatives, the Neandertals and Denisovans. The biological significance of these differences
    for the development of the modern human brain is largely unknown. In fact, both, modern humans and Neandertals, feature a brain, and notably a neocortex, of similar size, but whether this similar neocortex size implies a similar number of neurons remains
    unclear.

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  • From JTEM is so reasonable@21:1/5 to All on Thu Sep 8 15:03:55 2022
    DD'eDeN aka note/nickname/alas_my_loves wrote:

    As TKTL1 activity is particularly high in the frontal lobe of the fetal human brain, the researchers conclude that this single human-specific amino acid substitution in TKTL1 underlies a greater neuron production in the developing frontal lobe of the
    neocortex in modern humans than Neandertals.

    : Transketolase protein TKTL1 overexpression: A potential biomarker and
    : therapeutic target in breast cancer

    https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17342325/

    If you don't like what a citation is telling you, just Google another one.




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    https://jtem.tumblr.com/post/694526964376190976

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