Hirata Group • Brain Function Laboratory::National Institute of Genetics

Hirata Group • Brain Function Laboratory

Approaching brain function through studying development of nervous systems

Faculty

HIRATA, Tatsumi

Professor

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Lab HP

Research Summary

The brain circuitry is made up of an enormous number of neurons. It is constructed by sequential developmental steps, involving neuronal differentiation, migration, axon guidance, and synaptogensis. The resulting wiring patterns determine the characteristics of animals’ behavior and mental activities. Although the brain maintains a certain degree of plasticity, the core element is almost fixed and non-rewireable after the completion. We focus on this rigid feature of the brain by attempting to reveal the rules of neural development and to understand how the wiring design shapes brain function.

All neurons can be divided into two types: those that send their axons across the midline (commissural), and those that do not (ipsilateral). We have uncovered an evolutionarily conserved gene regulatory mechanism for this binary division. Nhlh1/2 double mutant mice show the complete lack of axons crossing the midline from the spinal cord to the midbrain

Selected Publications

Masuda A, Nishida K, Ajima R, Saga Y, Bakhtan M, Klar A, Hirata T, Zhu Y. A global gene regulatory program and its region-specific regulator partition neurons into commissural and ipsilateral projection types. Sci Adv. 2024 May 24;10(21):eadk2149.

Hatanaka Y, Yamada K, Eritate T, Kawaguchi Y, Hirata T. Neuronal fate resulting from indirect neurogenesis in the mouse neocortex. Cereb Cortex. 2024 Nov 5;34(11):bhae439.

Hirata T, Tohsato Y, Itoga H, Shioi G, Kiyonari H, Oka S, Fujimori T, Onami S. NeuroGT: A brain atlas of neurogenic tagging CreER drivers for birthdate-based classification and manipulation of mouse neurons. Cell Reports Methods. 2021 May 25; 1(3):100012.

Zhu Y, Hirata T, Mackay F, Murakami F. Chemokine receptor CXCR7 non-cellautonomously controls pontine neuronal migration and nucleus formation. Sci Rep. 2020 Jul 16;10(1):11830.