[[Astrocyte]]s contribute to the [[development]] and [[regulation]] of the higher-level [[brain function]]s, the critical targets of [[evolution]]. However, how astrocytes evolve in [[primate]]s is unsettled. 
Ciuba  et al. obtained [[human]], [[chimpanzee]], and [[macaque]] induced [[pluripotent]] [[stem cell]]-derived [[astrocyte]]s (iAstrocytes). Human iAstrocytes are bigger and more complex than the non-human primate iAstrocytes. They identified new loci contributing to the increased human [[astrocyte]]. They showed that [[gene]]s and [[pathway]]s implicated in long-range intercellular [[signalling]] are activated in the human iAstrocytes and partake in controlling iAstrocyte complexity. Genes downregulated in human iAstrocytes frequently relate to neurological [[disorder]]s and were decreased in adult brain samples. Through [[regulome]] analysis and [[machine learning]], they uncover that [[functional activation]] of enhancers coincides with a previously unappreciated, pervasive gain of "stripe" [[transcription factor]] binding sites. Altogether, they revealed the [[transcriptomic]] [[signature]] of primate astrocyte [[evolution]] and a [[mechanism]] driving the acquisition of the regulatory potential of enhancers
((Ciuba K, Piotrowska A, Chaudhury D, Dehingia B, Duński E, Behr R, Soroczyńska K, Czystowska-Kuźmicz M, Abbas M, Bulanda E, Gawlik-Zawiślak S, Pietrzak S, Figiel I, Włodarczyk J, Verkhratsky A, Niedbała M, Kaspera W, Wypych T, Wilczyński B, Pękowska A. [[Molecular signature]] of [[primate astrocyte]]s reveals [[pathway]]s and regulatory changes contributing to [[human brain]] [[evolution]]. Cell Stem Cell. 2025 Jan 29:S1934-5909(24)00458-2. doi: 10.1016/j.stem.2024.12.011. Epub ahead of print. PMID: 39909043.))