Differential expression levels of Sox9 in early neocortical radial glial cells regulate the decision between stem cell maintenance and differentiation

ABSTRACTRadial glial progenitor cells (RGCs) in the dorsal forebrain directly or indirectly produce excitatory projection neurons and macroglia of the neocortex. Recent evidence shows that the pool of RGCs is more heterogeneous than originally thought and that progenitor subpopulations can generate particular neuronal cell types. Using single cell RNA sequencing, we have studied gene expression patterns of two subtypes of RGCs that differ in their neurogenic behavior. One progenitor type rapidly produces postmitotic neurons, whereas the second progenitor remains relatively quiescence before generating neurons. We have identified candidate genes that are differentially expressed between thes…