Understanding the mechanisms generating the expansion of the cerebral cortex in mammals, by investigating the generation and expansion of the outer radial cells in cortical organoids of different mammal species. Indeed, the outer radial glia is just the cell type generating the supra-granular neurons that are typical of associating cortical areas in higher mammals, including primates and humans. This activity is one of the  frontiers in neurodevelopment and the team of neural stem cells of Bio@SNS has the technical expertise and the cultural background required to address it.

People: 

Fabrizio Tonelli PostDoc

Eleonora Crocco PhD student

Greta Ghiloni PhD student

Filippo Cancellotti, PhD student

Collaborations:

• CNR-IN – Claudia Alia, in vivo grafting of in vitro-generated mouse and human neurons.
• CNR-IBF – Angelo di Garbo, analysis of cortical neural network activity with MEA.
• CNR-ISTI – Giuseppe Amato, assays of synaptic potentiation in cortical neuronal networks by MEA.
• CNR-IFC – Milena Rizzo, analysis of miRNA expression during corticogenesis
• University of Nice Sophia Antipolis | UNS I Nice (France) – Michèle Studer, cortical organoids.