Project description:A fundamental interest in developmental neuroscience is to map the complete single-cell lineages within the brain. We developed a CRISPR editing-based lineage specific tracing (CREST) method for clonal tracing in Cre mice. We combined two complementary strategies to map the comprehensive single-cell lineage landscape in developing mouse brain. Applying snapCREST (snapshotting CREST) in mouse ventral midbrain (vMB), we constructed a spatiotemporal lineage landscape spanning the major developmental stage of vMB. Specifically, we identified six progenitor archetypes that could represent principal clonal fate of individual vMB progenitors, whose progenies showed restricted and graded distribution along the dorsal-ventral axis. We uncovered subregion-specific relationship between glutamatergic and GABAergic neurons and identified three distinct clonal lineages in the floor plate that specified glutamatergic neurons, dopaminergic neurons, or both neuronal types. We further created pandaCREST (progenitor and derivative associating CREST) by combining CREST, ex vivo organoid culture, and clonal splitting strategy to associate the transcriptome of progenitor cells in vivo with their differentiation potentials. Using pandaCREST, we identified multiple developmental origins of dopaminergic neurons and demonstrated that the fate potential of a transcriptome-defined progenitor type reflects the composite potentials of individual progenitors, each with distinct clonal fate and molecular signatures. Thus, the CREST method and strategies allow comprehensive single-cell lineage analysis that could offer new insights into the molecular programs underlying neural specification.
Project description:Gene expression is finely regulated during development, and deregulation can lead to disease. In pediatric brain tumors (PBT), disruption of neurodevelopmental gene regulation programs are suspected to drive oncogenesis. However, the transcriptional landscape and genetic regulation processes of the healthy developing brain are not fully characterized, limiting our investigation of these tumors. We used single-cell RNA-sequencing to generate a transcriptomic atlas of >65,000 cells in the developing forebrain and pons in human and mouse, two regions where PBT commonly arise. We projected bulk RNA-seq profiles for a cohort of 198 PBT onto these cell types, followed by focused analysis of three PBT subtypes by single-cell profiling: WNT medulloblastoma, embryonal tumors with multilayered rosettes (ETMR), and atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (ATRT). Altogether, we pinpoint stalled differentiation during developmental programs as a common etiological mechanism of PBT, providing a valuable resource to aid modeling and therapeutics.
Project description:Here, we derive human brain organoids with innately developing microglia to investigate the cellular responses to SARS-CoV-2 infection on a single cell level. We find evidence of limited tropism to SARS-CoV-2 for all major cell types and observe extensive neuronal cell death that also include non-infected cells. Single cell transcriptome profiling reveals distinct responses in microglia and astrocytes that share features with cellular states observed in neurodegenerative diseases
Project description:Gene expression is finely regulated during development, and deregulation can lead to disease. In pediatric brain tumors (PBT), disruption of neurodevelopmental gene regulation programs are suspected to drive oncogenesis. However, the transcriptional landscape and genetic regulation processes of the healthy developing brain are not fully characterized, limiting our investigation of these tumors. We used single-cell RNA-sequencing to generate a transcriptomic atlas of the developing forebrain and pons in human and mouse, two regions where PBT commonly arise. We projected bulk RNA-seq profiles for a cohort of 200 PBT onto these cell types, followed by focused analysis of three PBT subtypes by single-cell profiling: WNT medulloblastoma, embryonal tumors with multilayered rosettes (ETMR), and atypical teratoid/rhabdoid tumors (ATRT). In diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG), we investigated the effect of removal of the driver H3K27M mutation on differentiation potential using primary tumor-derived cell lines. Altogether, for WNT medulloblastoma, ETMR, and DIPG, we pinpoint stalled differentiation during developmental programs as a common etiological mechanism of these tumors, providing a valuable resource to aid modeling and therapeutics.
Project description:Neural crest cells (NCCs) are vertebrate stem cells that give rise to various cell types throughout the developing body in early life. Here, we utilized single-cell transcriptomic analyses to delineate NCC-derivatives along the posterior developing vertebrate, zebrafish, during the late embryonic to early larval stage, a period when NCCs are actively differentiating into distinct cellular lineages. We identified several major NCC/NCC-derived cell-types including mesenchyme, neural crest, neural, neuronal, glial, and pigment, from which we resolved over three dozen cellular subtypes. We dissected gene expression signatures of pigment progenitors delineating into chromatophore lineages, mesenchyme subtypes, and enteric NCCs transforming into enteric neurons. Global analysis of NCC derivatives revealed they were demarcated by combinatorial hox gene codes, with distinct profiles within neuronal cells. From these analyses, we present a comprehensive cell-type atlas that can be utilized as a valuable resource for further mechanistic and evolutionary investigations of NCC differentiation.
Project description:MicroRNAs (miRNAs) are small non-coding RNAs that can exert multilevel inhibition/repression at a post-transcriptional or protein synthesis level during disease or development. Characterisation of miRNAs in adult mammalian brains by deep sequencing has been reported previously. However, to date, no small RNA profiling of the developing brain has been undertaken using this method. We have performed deep sequencing and small RNA analysis of a developing (E15.5) mouse brain. We identified the expression of 294 known miRNAs in the E15.5 developing mouse brain, which were mostly represented by let-7 family and other brain-specific miRNAs such as miR-9 and miR-124. We also discovered 4 putative 22-23nt miRNAs: mm_br_e15_1181, mm_br_e15_279920, mm_br_e15_96719 and mm_br_e15_294354 each with a 70-76nt predicted pre-miRNA. We validated the 4 putative miRNAs and further characterised one of them, mm_br_e15_1181, throughout embryogenesis. Mm_br_e15_1181 biogenesis was Dicer1-dependent and was expressed in E3.5 blastocysts and E7 whole embryos. Embryo-wide expression patterns were observed at E9.5 and E11.5 followed by a near complete loss of expression by E13.5, with expression restricted to a specialised layer of cells within the developing and early postnatal brain. Mm_br_e15_1181 was upregulated during neurodifferentiation of P19 teratocarcinoma cells. This novel miRNA has been identified as miR-3099. We have generated and analysed the first deep sequencing dataset of small RNA sequences of the developing mouse brain. The analysis revealed a novel miRNA, miR-3099, with potential regulatory effects on early embryogenesis, and involvement in neuronal cell differentiation/function in the brain during late embryonic and early neonatal development. Deep sequencing analysis of small RNAs isolated from an E15.5 mouse brain.
Project description:Maternal antibodies specific for antigens in the developing brain are implicated as risk factors for neurodevelopmental disorders, but how these antibodies interfere with neurodevelopment remain speculative. It has been postulated that immunoglobulin G-immune complexes (IgG-IC) activate Fc gamma receptors (FcγR) on non-immune cells in the brain, thereby modulating intracellular signaling and/or internalizing function-blocking antibodies specific for intracellular antigens. However, testing this hypothesis has been hindered by the paucity of data regarding FcγR in the developing brain. Thus, we first investigated FcγR expression in the brain of neonatal male and female rats using quantitative PCR analyses. FcgrIa, FcgrIIa, FcgrIIb, FcgrIIIa and Fcgrt transcripts were detectable in the cortex, hippocampus and cerebellum at postnatal days 1 and 7. These transcripts were also present in primary hippocampal and cortical cell cultures, where their expression was upregulated by IFNγ. In order to confirm protein abundance of FcγRIa, FcγRIIb and FcγRIIIa in cultured hippocampal and cortical neurons and astrocytes on the single cell and tissue level we used immunocytochemistry, western blotting, proteotype analysis, and flow cytometry. The data shows that a subpopulation of these cells co-express the excitatory FcγRIa and the inhibitory FcγRIIb. Functional analysis shows that exposure of hippocampal and cortical cell cultures to IgG-IC increased intracellular calcium and Erk phosphorylation, and triggered FcγR-mediated internalization of IgG. Collectively, these data demonstrate that developing neurons and astrocytes express signaling competent FcγR. which could establish a molecular mode of action of maternal antibodies could influence vulnerability to neurodevelopmental disorders via direct interactions with FcγR on non-immune cells in the developing brain. These findings support the hypothesis that maternal antibodies influence vulnerability to neurodevelopmental disorders via direct interactions with FcγR on non-immune cells in the developing brain.