The marmoset: An emerging model to unravel the evolution and development of the primate neocortex

Abstract

Throughout evolution, the neocortex has undergone a dramatic expansion providing the substrate for increasingly complex cognitive abilities, culminating with humans. The enlargement of the neocortex did not affect its' basic organization, which is remarkably conserved from rodents to primates. The mouse has thus proven an advantageous model to decipher the molecular and cellular mechanisms supporting neocortical development. However, it is of limited benefit when studying the mechanisms leading to the inclusion of higher order association areas, which form the largest fraction of the primate neocortex. In the quest for a suitable nonhuman primate model to study the developmental mechanism of neocortical patterning and expansion, researchers focussed on the Old World macaque, routinely employed in functional and behavioral studies. However, the species has many limitations making studies difficult and/or impractical. Therefore, in the past couple of decades, the New World common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) has drawn much attention and become an accepted model. The marmoset has the advantage of a smooth neocortical sheet, enabling the direct correspondence between developing cortices and the comprehensive map established for the adult, with a significant amount of cortical maturation occurring during the postnatal period. This review presents the contributions of recent marmoset studies to our understanding of the mechanisms regulating corticogenesis in a complex species, the molecular control of neocortical patterning and the sequential maturation of visual cortical areas while commenting on the future of the species in the field. Furthermore, while these new findings are relevant to developmental biology, in order to understand how new cortical areas have emerged to expand cognitive abilities, they also represent a foundation for the better understanding of developmental cognitive disorders. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Develop Neurobiol 77: 263-272, 2017.

Biologically excretable AIE dots for visualizing through the marmosets intravitally: horizons in future clinical nanomedicine

“…However, doubtless the utilization in non-human primates is an essential step for AIE dots to advance clinically. Non-human primates with a strong homology and similarity of organizational structure and physiological functions to human beings 30,31 have been considered to be ideal laboratory animal models for the studies of life science 32,33 and pre-clinical studies of new drugs 34 . The special columnar, modular and laminar structure of the cortex in non-human primates demonstrates a closer metabolic coupling between neurons, glial cells 35 , and cerebral vasculature 36,37 , and may reflect the cytoarchitectonic and functional features of the cortex 38 , which is distinguished from the cortex of rodents.…”

Immortalized common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) hepatic progenitor cells possess bipotentiality in vitro and in vivo

“…Total RNA (3 µg/sample) extracted from three adult marmoset livers (3,6, and 12 years old, respectively) and from MHPC cells at different passages (passges 10, 25, and 30, respectively) was used as input material. Sequencing libraries were generated using NEBNext ® Ultra™ RNA Library Prep Kit for Illumina ® (NEB, USA) per manufacturer's instructions and index codes were added to attribute sequences to each sample.…”

“…The common marmoset (Callithrix jacchus) is a New World nonhuman primate, originally inhabiting in Brazil, South America, with some populations distributed in Australia and Africa 1 . Due to their small body size, ease of handling, shorter gestation period, and earlier sexual maturation as well as lower maintenance cost compared to Old World nonhuman primates, common marmosets are being used increasingly as one of the mainstream nonhuman primate animal models in biomedical research, including neuroscience, infectious diseases, reproductive biology, stem cell, and toxicological tests [2][3][4][5][6][7] .…”

Why marmosets?

“…Development is also relatively rapid, with individuals achieving adulthood in approximately 16–18 months of age (Yamamoto, ; Tardif et al, ). These attributes make the prospect of marmosets as a developmental neurobiological model not only possible, but likely and are discussed at length by Homman‐Ludiye and Bourne in this Issue (Homman‐Ludiye and Bourne, ). These authors make the compelling case for why a primate model is critical to understanding human brain development, as other prevalently used vertebrate species, such as mice, exhibit notably distinct ontogenetic processes, particularly in the neocortex.…”