Noemi Picco

Title

A mathematical insight into cell lineage dynamics during cortical neurogenesis

Abstract

The brain is the most complicated organ of any animal, formed and sculpted over 500 million years of evolution. The cerebral cortex is the folded grey matter that forms the outside of the brain, and is the seat of higher cognitive functions.A key determinant of neurogenesis (the production of neurons) in the cortex is the modulation of proliferative (self-amplifying) and differentiative (neurogenic) divisions, as well as programmed cell death. Starting from a uniform pool of neural progenitor cells, a fine-tuned modulation of these events allows the timely appearance of specialised neurons, gradually shaping up the cortex.Critically, to fully understand this process we are faced with the challenge of understanding the temporal changes in cell division strategy that unfold at the single-cell level and create clonal lineages. Our understanding of the precise lineage progression programme is still incomplete and contradictory due to limitations in the experimental techniques. In order to obtain more conclusive insights, we carry out virtual clonal analysis using a stochastic birth-death process and compare our results against experimental data. Using a dataset obtained with Mosaic Analysis with Double Markers, we illustrate how the theoretical description can be exploited to interpret and reconcile the disparity between virtual and experimental results.

Short bio

Noemi is a lecturer in Mathematics at Swansea University. She works at the interface between mathematics and biology, with a focus on data-driven mathematical modelling of cancer and the developing brain. She received her D.Phil. from the University of Oxford supervised by Professor Maini, and later worked with him as postdoctoral research assistant in St John’s College.