NOTCH2NL explained

Notch homolog 2 N-terminal-like is a family of proteins that in humans consists of 3 proteins (NOTCH2NLA, NOTCH2NLB, and NOTCH2NLC) and is encoded by NOTCH2NL gene. It appears to play a key role in the development of the prefrontal cortex, a part of the brain.^{[1] [2] [3] [4]}

NOTCH2NL increases the number of cortical stem cells, which while delaying the generation of neurons ultimately leads to a greater number of neurons and larger brains.^[3] NOTCH2NL copy number loss and gain is associated with various neurological disorders, and they showed that loss of NOTCH2NL in cortical organoids leads to the organoids being smaller, while resulting in premature differentiation of cortical stem cells into neurons.^[3] The role of NOTCH2NL in the development of the human brain together with the evolutionary history of NOTCH2NL genes, suggests that the emergence of NOTCH2NL genes may have contributed to the increase in size of the human neocortex which tripled over the last two million years.

Notes and References

1. Fiddes IT, Lodewijk GA, Mooring M, Bosworth CM, Ewing AD, Mantalas GL, Novak AM, van den Bout A, Bishara A, Rosenkrantz JL, Lorig-Roach R, Field AR, Haeussler M, Russo L, Bhaduri A, Nowakowski TJ, Pollen AA, Dougherty ML, Nuttle X, Addor MC, Zwolinski S, Katzman S, Kriegstein A, Eichler EE, Salama SR, Jacobs FM, Haussler D . 6 . Human-Specific NOTCH2NL Genes Affect Notch Signaling and Cortical Neurogenesis . Cell . 173 . 6 . 1356–1369.e22 . May 2018 . 29856954 . 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.051 . 5986104.
2. Suzuki IK, Gacquer D, Van Heurck R, Kumar D, Wojno M, Bilheu A, Herpoel A, Lambert N, Cheron J, Polleux F, Detours V, Vanderhaeghen P . Human-Specific NOTCH2NL Genes Expand Cortical Neurogenesis through Delta/Notch Regulation . Cell . 173 . 6 . 1370–1384.e16 . May 2018 . 29856955 . 10.1016/j.cell.2018.03.067 . 6092419 .
3. Web site: Meet NOTCH2NL, the human-specific genes that may have given us our big brains . Eurekalert . 31 May 2018 .
4. Web site: A New Genetic Clue to How Humans Got Such Big Brains . The Atlantic. Ed . Yong . vanc . 31 May 2018.