Project description:The spinal cord receives input from peripheral sensory neurons and controls motor output by regulating muscle innervating motor neurons. These functions are carried out by neural circuits comprising molecularly and physiologically distinct neuronal subtypes that are generated in a characteristic spatial-temporal arrangement from progenitors in the embryonic neural tube. The systematic mapping of gene expression in mouse embryos has provided insight into the diversity and complexity of cells in the neural tube. For human embryos, however, less information has been available. To address this, we used single cell mRNA sequencing to profile cervical and thoracic regions in four human embryos of Carnegie Stages (CS) CS12, CS14, CS17 and CS19 from Gestational Weeks (W) 4-7. In total we recovered the transcriptomes of 71,219 cells. Analysis of progenitor and neuronal populations from the neural tube, as well as cells of the peripheral nervous system, in dorsal root ganglia adjacent to the neural tube, identified dozens of distinct cell types and facilitated the reconstruction of the differentiation pathways of specific neuronal subtypes. Comparison with existing mouse datasets revealed the overall similarity of mouse and human neural tube development while highlighting specific features that differed between species. These data provide a catalogue of gene expression and cell type identity in the developing neural tube that will support future studies of sensory and motor control systems.
Project description:The spinal cord receives input from peripheral sensory neurons and controls motor output by regulating muscle innervating motor neurons. These functions are carried out by neural circuits comprising molecularly and physiologically distinct neuronal subtypes that are generated in a characteristic spatial-temporal arrangement from progenitors in the embryonic neural tube. The systematic mapping of gene expression in mouse embryos has provided insight into the diversity and complexity of cells in the neural tube. For human embryos, however, less information has been available. To address this, we used single cell mRNA sequencing to profile cervical and thoracic regions in four human embryos of Carnegie Stages (CS) CS12, CS14, CS17 and CS19 from Gestational Weeks (W) 4-7. In total we recovered the transcriptomes of 71,219 cells. Analysis of progenitor and neuronal populations from the neural tube, as well as cells of the peripheral nervous system, in dorsal root ganglia adjacent to the neural tube, identified dozens of distinct cell types and facilitated the reconstruction of the differentiation pathways of specific neuronal subtypes. Comparison with existing mouse datasets revealed the overall similarity of mouse and human neural tube development while highlighting specific features that differed between species. These data provide a catalogue of gene expression and cell type identity in the developing neural tube that will support future studies of sensory and motor control systems.
Project description:The human spinal cord contains diverse cell types, governed by a series of spatiotemporal events for tissue assembly and functions. However, the regulation of cell fate specification in the human developing spinal cord remains largely unknown. By performing single-cell and spatial multi-omics methods, we integrated the datasets and created a comprehensive human developmental atlas of the first trimester spinal cord. Unexpectedly, we discovered unique events in human spinal cord development, including early loss of active neural stem cells, simultaneous occurrence of neurogenesis and gliogenesis, and distinct spatiotemporal genetic regulations of fate choices. We also identified distinct regulations of cancer stem cells in ependymomas from our atlas. Thus, we demonstrate spatiotemporal genetic regulation of human spinal cord development and its potential to understand novel disease mechanisms.
Project description:The human spinal cord contains diverse cell types, governed by a series of spatiotemporal events for tissue assembly and functions. However, the regulation of cell fate specification in the human developing spinal cord remains largely unknown. By performing single-cell and spatial multi-omics methods, we integrated the datasets and created a comprehensive human developmental atlas of the first trimester spinal cord. Unexpectedly, we discovered unique events in human spinal cord development, including early loss of active neural stem cells, simultaneous occurrence of neurogenesis and gliogenesis, and distinct spatiotemporal genetic regulations of fate choices. We also identified distinct regulations of cancer stem cells in ependymomas from our atlas. Thus, we demonstrate spatiotemporal genetic regulation of human spinal cord development and its potential to understand novel disease mechanisms.
Project description:Here we performed a ChIP-seq experiment for Tlx3 trancription factor on a sample of mouse embryonic dorsal spinal cord. The result is the generation of the genome-wide maps for Tlx3 binding to chromatin in dILB neurones of the developing dorsal horn.
Project description:Transcriptome analysis of spinal cord microglia and total spinal cord from Lewis rats intratracheally treated with PBS, neomycin or vancomycin.