Models matter: human-specific roles of POU3F2 and Wnt Signalling in neurodevelopment

Welcome to the 33rd episode of The Brain Podcast - the official podcast of the journals Brain and Brain Communications.

This episode features a discussion with first author Dr Courtney R Benoit and senior author Associate Professor Tracy L Young-Pearse of the Brain article entitled: POU3F2 regulates canonical Wnt signalling via SOX13 and ADNP to expand the neural progenitor population

We discuss a complex but important topic examining underlying mechanisms of neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders, specifically the regulation of canonical Wnt signalling pathway. The authors describe how two autism-related genes, ADNP and POU3F2, are linked through loss-of-function mutations in the transcription factor POU3F2 and how this may contribute to abnormal neurodevelopment.

Check out the full article on the Brain website as part of the December 2025 issue: https://doi.org/10.1093/brain/awaf221

This episode was co-hosted, edited and produced by Chaitra Sathyaprakash and Andreas Thermistocleous, edited and produced by Chaitra and Xin You Tai, co-produced by Antonia Johnston, original music by Ammar Al-Chalabi.