Anavex Life Sciences Corporation【AVXL】株式ニュース

Another interesting COL24A1 finding from a paper a few days ago, ChatGPT summary of it here, as-well as brief reference to other papers:

"An recent Nature paper set out to build one of the most detailed maps yet of the different cell types in the primate anterior insular cortex—a brain region involved in attention, emotion, decision-making and higher-order integration that is also increasingly recognised as being affected in several neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's disease. Using over 120,000 individual cells from macaques (whose cortical organisation is among the closest to humans), the researchers identified 78 molecularly defined cell types, including 20 distinct excitatory neuron types. They then combined this with Patch-seq, microscopy and electrophysiology to link gene-expression profiles with the actual shape and electrical behaviour of neurons.

One of the 20 excitatory neuron types was labelled Exc FEZF2 COL24A1. FEZF2 identified the broader family of deep-layer projection neurons, while COL24A1 was one of the genes most specifically enriched in that particular neuronal population. This is notable because modern neuroscience increasingly recognises that many neurological diseases, including Alzheimer's, affect specific excitatory neuronal populations rather than all neurons equally.

The authors then looked more closely at this COL24A1-containing population because it included von Economo neurons (VENs)—a rare class of specialised projection neurons found mainly in humans, great apes and a few other highly social mammals. Within this population they identified five further molecular subtypes, one of which was labelled COL24A1 POC5 and corresponded to the VEN-S subtype. They also experimentally confirmed COL24A1 expression in these neurons using molecular staining.

The paper does not suggest COL24A1 causes disease or that it has a particular function in these neurons. Rather, its significance is that COL24A1 repeatedly emerged as a statistically enriched marker during progressively finer levels of analysis—from helping define one of the 20 excitatory neuron types, to helping define a more specialised VEN-related subtype. In other words, COL24A1 was not simply present in the brain; it consistently helped distinguish increasingly specific neuronal identities.

Interestingly, this finding adds to a broader pattern emerging across independent single-cell studies. COL24A1 has now also been identified as a marker of specialised neuronal populations in the human entorhinal cortex and subiculum/hippocampus. Across these studies, COL24A1 repeatedly appears in specialised excitatory neuronal populations, with the present study further identifying it within a deep-layer projection-neuron population. While each study addressed a different biological question, together they suggest COL24A1 repeatedly marks biologically distinct neuronal identities across multiple brain regions, supporting the idea that its neuronal expression is structured rather than incidental."

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41556-026-02009-4