Project description:The cochlea is the auditory sensory organ and the utricle detect linear acceleration and the pull of gravity. We performed single nucleus RNA sequencing to analyze changes of cell types and gene expression in cochlea and utricles during aging.
Project description:We analyzed whether cochlear removal-induced transcriptional changes in the cochlear nucleus (CN) were due to loss of electrical activity in the 8th nerve. Pharmacological activity blockade of the auditory nerve for 24 h resulted in similar expression changes for only a subset of genes. Thus, an additional factor not dependent on action potential-mediated signaling must also regulate transcriptional responses to deafferentation in the CN. Experiment Overall Design: TTX was infused into the cochlea unilaterally via osmotic pumps to block activity in the 8th nerve. CN tissue was dissected out from 10-12 mice per replicate and pooled. Three biological replicates were performed. Gene expression was compared between the ipsilateral and contralateral CN tissue to identify genes transcriptionally regulated after activity deprivation.
Project description:Single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) was used to profile the transcriptome of 8,413 nuclei in chicken adult testis. This dataset includes two samples from two different individuals. This dataset is part of a larger evolutionary study of adult testis at the single-nucleus level (97,521 single-nuclei in total) across mammals including 10 representatives of the three main mammalian lineages: human, chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, gibbon, rhesus macaque, marmoset, mouse (placental mammals); grey short-tailed opossum (marsupials); and platypus (egg-laying monotremes). Corresponding data were generated for a bird (red junglefowl, the progenitor of domestic chicken), to be used as an evolutionary outgroup.
Project description:Precise frequency discrimination is a hallmark of auditory function in birds and mammals. In the cochlea, tuning and spectral separation result from longitudinal differences in basilar membrane stiffness and numerous individual gradiations in sensory hair cell phenotypes, but it is unknown what patterns those phenotypes. Hypothesizing that morphogen levels might differ along the longitudinal axis of the developing cochlea, we sequenced the transcriptomes of the proximal, middle, and distal thirds of the chicken cochlea at E6.5, when postmitotic hair cells first form.
Project description:Precise frequency discrimination is a hallmark of auditory function in birds and mammals. In the cochlea, tuning and spectral separation result from longitudinal differences in basilar membrane stiffness and numerous individual gradiations in sensory hair cell phenotypes, but it is unknown what patterns those phenotypes. Hypothesizing that morphogen levels might differ along the longitudinal axis of the developing cochlea, we sequenced the transcriptomes of the proximal, middle, and distal thirds of the chicken cochlea at E6.5, when postmitotic hair cells first form. Embryonic day 6.5 chicken cochlea were dissected. Three samples were collected from each cochlear duct by cutting the duct into three approximately equal sized pieces to produce proximal, middle, and distal pieces. Each sample contained a portion of the future tegmentum vasculosum and the basilar papilla sensory epithelium. The distal piece also contained the region fo the future lagena.
Project description:The existence of conventional dendritic cells (cDCs) has not yet been demonstrated outside mammals. In this paper, we identified bona fide cDCs in chicken spleen. Comparative profiling of global and of immune response gene expression, morphology, and T cell activation properties show that cDCs and macrophages (MPs) exist as distinct mononuclear phagocytes in chicken, resembling their human and mouse cell counterparts. Using computational analysis, core gene expression signatures for cDCs, MPs, T and B cells across chicken, human and mouse were established, which will facilitate the identification of these subsets in other vertebrates. Overall this study, by extending the newly uncovered cDC and MP paradigm to chicken, suggests that the generation of these two phagocyte lineages occurred before the reptile to mammal and bird transition in evolution. It opens avenues for the design of new vaccines and neutraceuticals that are mandatory for the sustained supply of poultry products in the expanding human population.