Molecular and spatial heterogeneity of microglia in Rasmussen encephalitis.

ABSTRACT: Rasmussen encephalitis (RE) is a rare childhood neurological disease characterized by progressive unilateral loss of function, hemispheric atrophy and drug-resistant epilepsy. Affected brain tissue shows signs of infiltrating cytotoxic T-cells, microglial activation, and neuronal death, implicating an inflammatory disease process. Recent studies have identified molecular correlates of inflammation in RE, but cell-type-specific mechanisms remain unclear. We used single-nucleus RNA-sequencing (snRNA-seq) to assess gene expression across multiple cell types in brain tissue resected from two children with RE. We found transcriptionally distinct microglial populations enriched in RE compared to two age-matched individuals with unaffected brain tissue and two individuals with Type I focal cortic

SUBMITTER: Westfall JJ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9677917 | biostudies-literature | 2022 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature