Data from: Resolving the three-dimensional interactome of human accelerated regions during human and chimpanzee neurodevelopment

Human accelerated regions (HARs) have been implicated in human brain
evolution. However, insight into the genes and pathways they control is
lacking, hindering the understanding of their function. Here, we identify
2,963 conserved gene targets for 1,590 HARs and their orthologs in human
and chimpanzee neural stem cells (NSCs). Conserved gene targets are
enriched for neurodevelopmental functions and are overrepresented among
differentially expressed genes (DEGs) identified in human NSCs (hNSCs) and
chimpanzee NSCs (cNSCs) as well as in human versus non-human primate
brains. Species-specific gene targets do not converge on any function and
are not enriched among DEGs. HAR targets also show cell-type-specific
expression in the human fetal brain, including in outer radial glia, which
are linked to cortical expansion. Our findings support that HARs influence
brain evolution by altering the expression of ancestral gene targets
shared between human and chimpanzee rather than by gaining new targets in
human and facilitate hypothesis-directed studies of HAR biology.