Regulatory elements governing neurogenesis and proliferation in developing human neocortex

Non-coding regions compose most of the human genome, yet their functionality is poorly defined. In the developing human neocortex, non-coding regulatory elements tightly regulate expression to direct neural progenitor proliferation and neurogenesis. Here, we define thousands of non-coding elements involved in human neurogenesis by contrasting chromatin accessibility via ATAC-seq from the germinal zone and cortical plate. Tissues were obtained from three independent donors (15-17 post conception weeks) and three to four technical replicates from each tissue were processed for ATAC-seq. Coronal sections were taken from dissociated tissue that visually appeared cortical. Under a dissection microscope, the coronal sections were cut with a razor blade along the less dense intermediate zone to divide the tissue into two segments from each donor (1) GZ: the neural progenitor rich region encompassing the ventricular zone, subventricular zone, and intermediate zone and (2) CP: the neuron rich region encompassing the subplate, cortical plate, and marginal zone. ATAC-seq processing followed the original protocol (Buenrostro et al., Nat Methods, 2013). Please note that RNA-Seq raw data will be made available through dbGaP (controlled access; phs001438) due to patient privacy concerns.