Extended Data Fig. 5: Enrichment of immature neuronal gene features in imGCs of different species.

a, Expression patterns of nine shared imGC-enriched genes across species in the dentate gyrus (DG) of adult mice, eight of which show enrichment in the neurogenic subgranular zone (except for PROX1). Images are from the Allen Brain in situ hybridization database⁴⁶ (https://mouse.brain-map.org/). P: postnatal day. b, A second set of sample confocal immunostaining images of DPYSL5 enrichment in imGCs in the hippocampi of infant and adult humans, postnatal macaques and marmosets, and adult mice. Scale bars: 10 µm. Asterisks indicate DPYSL5⁺ cells among STMN1⁺PROX1⁺ imGCs (Fig. 3e). c, Venn diagram depicting the overlap of GC-enriched genes across different species when compared to other cell types within the same datasets. d, A schematic illustration of our working model. In contrast to the traditional concept that a single genetic variant can drive cross-species cellular innovations in immature neuron regulation, our study revealed substantial interspecies variance in highly expressed genes enriched in imGCs, which converged onto conserved biological processes, suggesting imGCs in different species may recruit and use species-unique molecular features to drive similar biological processes regulating neuronal development. Schematics in c and d created using BioRender.com.