Cross-species analysis of adult hippocampal neurogenesis reveals human-specific gene expression but convergent biological processes

Abstract

Immature dentate granule cells (imGCs) arising from adult hippocampal neurogenesis contribute to plasticity, learning and memory, but their evolutionary changes across species and specialized features in humans remain poorly understood. Here we performed machine-learning-augmented analysis of published single-nucleus RNA-sequencing datasets and identified macaque imGCs with transcriptome-wide immature neuronal characteristics. Our cross-species comparisons among humans, monkeys, pigs and mice showed few shared (such as DPYSL5), but mostly species-specific gene expression in imGCs that converged onto common biological processes regulating neuronal development. We further identified human-specific transcriptomic features of imGCs and demonstrated the functional roles of human imGC-enriched expression of a family of proton-transporting vacuolar-type ATPase subtypes in the development of imGCs derived from human pluripotent stem cells. Our study reveals divergent gene expression patterns but convergent biological processes in the molecular characteristics of imGCs across species, highlighting the importance of conducting independent molecular and functional analyses for adult neurogenesis in different species.