Chromatin accessibility during human first-trimester neurodevelopment

This study presents a high-resolution multiomic atlas of chromatin accessibility and gene expression in the first-trimester human brain. The researchers defined 135 cell clusters, linked *cis*-regulatory elements to gene expression, and identified transcription factor binding sites. A convolutional neural network predicted neuronal subtypes, elucidating the activation mechanism of *ESRRB* in Purkinje cells. Linking disease-associated SNPs to *cis*-regulatory elements revealed midbrain-derived GABAergic neurons as particularly vulnerable to major depressive disorder-related mutations. This work offers insights into gene regulatory mechanisms during early brain development and provides a reference for future studies.

Camiel C. A. Mannens, Lijuan Hu, Peter Lönnerberg, Marijn Schipper, Caleb C. Reagor, Xiaofei Li, Xiaoling He, Roger A. Barker, Erik Sundström, Danielle Posthuma, Sten Linnarsson