What role does metabolism play in cortical development?

The developing human brain is not just a biological puzzle; it is a metabolic one. 

A new Cell by Cell Press paper from Aparna Bhaduri's lab at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA creates the first metabolic atlas of the early human cortex, revealing that glucose metabolism plays a direct role in shaping which cell types the brain produces. 

The pentose phosphate pathway, better known in cancer biology than neuroscience, turns out to be a key regulator of radial glia fate during cortical development. 

This is exactly the kind of discovery that emerges when neuroscience and cancer biology inform each other. DGSOM UCLA is leading the way. 

Read the entire paper: Metabolic atlas of early human cortex reveals glycolytic remodeling and pentose phosphate pathway control of cell fate transitions