1
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Zhou J, Zhang Z, Wu M, Liu H, Pang Y, Bartlett A, Peng Z, Ding W, Rivkin A, Lagos WN, Williams E, Lee CT, Miyazaki PA, Aldridge A, Zeng Q, Salinda JLA, Claffey N, Liem M, Fitzpatrick C, Boggeman L, Yao Z, Smith KA, Tasic B, Altshul J, Kenworthy MA, Valadon C, Nery JR, Castanon RG, Patne NS, Vu M, Rashid M, Jacobs M, Ito T, Osteen J, Emerson N, Lee J, Cho S, Rink J, Huang HH, Pinto-Duartec A, Dominguez B, Smith JB, O'Connor C, Zeng H, Chen S, Lee KF, Mukamel EA, Jin X, Margarita Behrens M, Ecker JR, Callaway EM. Brain-wide correspondence of neuronal epigenomics and distant projections. Nature 2023; 624:355-365. [PMID: 38092919 PMCID: PMC10719087 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-023-06823-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/11/2023] [Accepted: 11/01/2023] [Indexed: 12/17/2023]
Abstract
Single-cell analyses parse the brain's billions of neurons into thousands of 'cell-type' clusters residing in different brain structures1. Many cell types mediate their functions through targeted long-distance projections allowing interactions between specific cell types. Here we used epi-retro-seq2 to link single-cell epigenomes and cell types to long-distance projections for 33,034 neurons dissected from 32 different regions projecting to 24 different targets (225 source-to-target combinations) across the whole mouse brain. We highlight uses of these data for interrogating principles relating projection types to transcriptomics and epigenomics, and for addressing hypotheses about cell types and connections related to genetics. We provide an overall synthesis with 926 statistical comparisons of discriminability of neurons projecting to each target for every source. We integrate this dataset into the larger BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network atlas, composed of millions of neurons, to link projection cell types to consensus clusters. Integration with spatial transcriptomics further assigns projection-enriched clusters to smaller source regions than the original dissections. We exemplify this by presenting in-depth analyses of projection neurons from the hypothalamus, thalamus, hindbrain, amygdala and midbrain to provide insights into properties of those cell types, including differentially expressed genes, their associated cis-regulatory elements and transcription-factor-binding motifs, and neurotransmitter use.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jingtian Zhou
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Zhuzhu Zhang
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Human Genetics, The University of Chicago, Chicago, IL, USA
| | - May Wu
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hanqing Liu
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Yan Pang
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Anna Bartlett
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Zihao Peng
- School of Mathematics and Computer Science, Nanchang University, Nanchang, China
- Henan Engineering Research Center of Intelligent Technology and Application, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
| | - Wubin Ding
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Angeline Rivkin
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Will N Lagos
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Elora Williams
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Cheng-Ta Lee
- Peptide Biology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Paula Assakura Miyazaki
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Andrew Aldridge
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Qiurui Zeng
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - J L Angelo Salinda
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Naomi Claffey
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Michelle Liem
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Conor Fitzpatrick
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Lara Boggeman
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Zizhen Yao
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | | | | | - Jordan Altshul
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Mia A Kenworthy
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Cynthia Valadon
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Joseph R Nery
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Rosa G Castanon
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Neelakshi S Patne
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Minh Vu
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Mohammad Rashid
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Matthew Jacobs
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Tony Ito
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Julia Osteen
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Nora Emerson
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jasper Lee
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Silvia Cho
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jon Rink
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hsiang-Hsuan Huang
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - António Pinto-Duartec
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Bertha Dominguez
- Peptide Biology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jared B Smith
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Carolyn O'Connor
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hongkui Zeng
- Allen Institute for Brain Science, Seattle, WA, USA
| | - Shengbo Chen
- Henan Engineering Research Center of Intelligent Technology and Application, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
- School of Computer and Information Engineering, Henan University, Kaifeng, China
| | - Kuo-Fen Lee
- Peptide Biology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Eran A Mukamel
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Xin Jin
- Center for Motor Control and Disease, Key Laboratory of Brain Functional Genomics, East China Normal University, Shanghai, China
- NYU-ECNU Institute of Brain and Cognitive Science, New York University Shanghai, Shanghai, China
| | - M Margarita Behrens
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Joseph R Ecker
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Edward M Callaway
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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2
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Liu H, Zhou J, Tian W, Luo C, Bartlett A, Aldridge A, Lucero J, Osteen JK, Nery JR, Chen H, Rivkin A, Castanon RG, Clock B, Li YE, Hou X, Poirion OB, Preissl S, Pinto-Duarte A, O'Connor C, Boggeman L, Fitzpatrick C, Nunn M, Mukamel EA, Zhang Z, Callaway EM, Ren B, Dixon JR, Behrens MM, Ecker JR. DNA methylation atlas of the mouse brain at single-cell resolution. Nature 2021; 598:120-128. [PMID: 34616061 PMCID: PMC8494641 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-020-03182-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 105] [Impact Index Per Article: 35.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/30/2020] [Accepted: 12/23/2020] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Mammalian brain cells show remarkable diversity in gene expression, anatomy and function, yet the regulatory DNA landscape underlying this extensive heterogeneity is poorly understood. Here we carry out a comprehensive assessment of the epigenomes of mouse brain cell types by applying single-nucleus DNA methylation sequencing1,2 to profile 103,982 nuclei (including 95,815 neurons and 8,167 non-neuronal cells) from 45 regions of the mouse cortex, hippocampus, striatum, pallidum and olfactory areas. We identified 161 cell clusters with distinct spatial locations and projection targets. We constructed taxonomies of these epigenetic types, annotated with signature genes, regulatory elements and transcription factors. These features indicate the potential regulatory landscape supporting the assignment of putative cell types and reveal repetitive usage of regulators in excitatory and inhibitory cells for determining subtypes. The DNA methylation landscape of excitatory neurons in the cortex and hippocampus varied continuously along spatial gradients. Using this deep dataset, we constructed an artificial neural network model that precisely predicts single neuron cell-type identity and brain area spatial location. Integration of high-resolution DNA methylomes with single-nucleus chromatin accessibility data3 enabled prediction of high-confidence enhancer-gene interactions for all identified cell types, which were subsequently validated by cell-type-specific chromatin conformation capture experiments4. By combining multi-omic datasets (DNA methylation, chromatin contacts, and open chromatin) from single nuclei and annotating the regulatory genome of hundreds of cell types in the mouse brain, our DNA methylation atlas establishes the epigenetic basis for neuronal diversity and spatial organization throughout the mouse cerebrum.
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Affiliation(s)
- Hanqing Liu
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jingtian Zhou
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Wei Tian
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Chongyuan Luo
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Human Genetics, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
| | - Anna Bartlett
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Andrew Aldridge
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jacinta Lucero
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Julia K Osteen
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Joseph R Nery
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Huaming Chen
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Angeline Rivkin
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Rosa G Castanon
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Ben Clock
- Peptide Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Yang Eric Li
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Xiaomeng Hou
- Center for Epigenomics, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institute of Genomic Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Olivier B Poirion
- Center for Epigenomics, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institute of Genomic Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Sebastian Preissl
- Center for Epigenomics, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institute of Genomic Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Antonio Pinto-Duarte
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Carolyn O'Connor
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Lara Boggeman
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Conor Fitzpatrick
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Michael Nunn
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Eran A Mukamel
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Zhuzhu Zhang
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Edward M Callaway
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Bing Ren
- Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Center for Epigenomics, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Institute of Genomic Medicine, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Moores Cancer Center, University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jesse R Dixon
- Peptide Biology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - M Margarita Behrens
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Joseph R Ecker
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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3
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Callaway EM, Dong HW, Ecker JR, Hawrylycz MJ, Huang ZJ, Lein ES, Ngai J, Osten P, Ren B, Tolias AS, White O, Zeng H, Zhuang X, Ascoli GA, Behrens MM, Chun J, Feng G, Gee JC, Ghosh SS, Halchenko YO, Hertzano R, Lim BK, Martone ME, Ng L, Pachter L, Ropelewski AJ, Tickle TL, Yang XW, Zhang K, Bakken TE, Berens P, Daigle TL, Harris JA, Jorstad NL, Kalmbach BE, Kobak D, Li YE, Liu H, Matho KS, Mukamel EA, Naeemi M, Scala F, Tan P, Ting JT, Xie F, Zhang M, Zhang Z, Zhou J, Zingg B, Armand E, Yao Z, Bertagnolli D, Casper T, Crichton K, Dee N, Diep D, Ding SL, Dong W, Dougherty EL, Fong O, Goldman M, Goldy J, Hodge RD, Hu L, Keene CD, Krienen FM, Kroll M, Lake BB, Lathia K, Linnarsson S, Liu CS, Macosko EZ, McCarroll SA, McMillen D, Nadaf NM, Nguyen TN, Palmer CR, Pham T, Plongthongkum N, Reed NM, Regev A, Rimorin C, Romanow WJ, Savoia S, Siletti K, Smith K, Sulc J, Tasic B, Tieu M, Torkelson A, Tung H, van Velthoven CTJ, Vanderburg CR, Yanny AM, Fang R, Hou X, Lucero JD, Osteen JK, Pinto-Duarte A, Poirion O, Preissl S, Wang X, Aldridge AI, Bartlett A, Boggeman L, O’Connor C, Castanon RG, Chen H, Fitzpatrick C, Luo C, Nery JR, Nunn M, Rivkin AC, Tian W, Dominguez B, Ito-Cole T, Jacobs M, Jin X, Lee CT, Lee KF, Miyazaki PA, Pang Y, Rashid M, Smith JB, Vu M, Williams E, Biancalani T, Booeshaghi AS, Crow M, Dudoit S, Fischer S, Gillis J, Hu Q, Kharchenko PV, Niu SY, Ntranos V, Purdom E, Risso D, de Bézieux HR, Somasundaram S, Street K, Svensson V, Vaishnav ED, Van den Berge K, Welch JD, An X, Bateup HS, Bowman I, Chance RK, Foster NN, Galbavy W, Gong H, Gou L, Hatfield JT, Hintiryan H, Hirokawa KE, Kim G, Kramer DJ, Li A, Li X, Luo Q, Muñoz-Castañeda R, Stafford DA, Feng Z, Jia X, Jiang S, Jiang T, Kuang X, Larsen R, Lesnar P, Li Y, Li Y, Liu L, Peng H, Qu L, Ren M, Ruan Z, Shen E, Song Y, Wakeman W, Wang P, Wang Y, Wang Y, Yin L, Yuan J, Zhao S, Zhao X, Narasimhan A, Palaniswamy R, Banerjee S, Ding L, Huilgol D, Huo B, Kuo HC, Laturnus S, Li X, Mitra PP, Mizrachi J, Wang Q, Xie P, Xiong F, Yu Y, Eichhorn SW, Berg J, Bernabucci M, Bernaerts Y, Cadwell CR, Castro JR, Dalley R, Hartmanis L, Horwitz GD, Jiang X, Ko AL, Miranda E, Mulherkar S, Nicovich PR, Owen SF, Sandberg R, Sorensen SA, Tan ZH, Allen S, Hockemeyer D, Lee AY, Veldman MB, Adkins RS, Ament SA, Bravo HC, Carter R, Chatterjee A, Colantuoni C, Crabtree J, Creasy H, Felix V, Giglio M, Herb BR, Kancherla J, Mahurkar A, McCracken C, Nickel L, Olley D, Orvis J, Schor M, Hood G, Dichter B, Grauer M, Helba B, Bandrowski A, Barkas N, Carlin B, D’Orazi FD, Degatano K, Gillespie TH, Khajouei F, Konwar K, Thompson C, Kelly K, Mok S, Sunkin S. A multimodal cell census and atlas of the mammalian primary motor cortex. Nature 2021; 598:86-102. [PMID: 34616075 PMCID: PMC8494634 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03950-0] [Citation(s) in RCA: 205] [Impact Index Per Article: 68.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/04/2020] [Accepted: 08/25/2021] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
Abstract
Here we report the generation of a multimodal cell census and atlas of the mammalian primary motor cortex as the initial product of the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN). This was achieved by coordinated large-scale analyses of single-cell transcriptomes, chromatin accessibility, DNA methylomes, spatially resolved single-cell transcriptomes, morphological and electrophysiological properties and cellular resolution input-output mapping, integrated through cross-modal computational analysis. Our results advance the collective knowledge and understanding of brain cell-type organization1-5. First, our study reveals a unified molecular genetic landscape of cortical cell types that integrates their transcriptome, open chromatin and DNA methylation maps. Second, cross-species analysis achieves a consensus taxonomy of transcriptomic types and their hierarchical organization that is conserved from mouse to marmoset and human. Third, in situ single-cell transcriptomics provides a spatially resolved cell-type atlas of the motor cortex. Fourth, cross-modal analysis provides compelling evidence for the transcriptomic, epigenomic and gene regulatory basis of neuronal phenotypes such as their physiological and anatomical properties, demonstrating the biological validity and genomic underpinning of neuron types. We further present an extensive genetic toolset for targeting glutamatergic neuron types towards linking their molecular and developmental identity to their circuit function. Together, our results establish a unifying and mechanistic framework of neuronal cell-type organization that integrates multi-layered molecular genetic and spatial information with multi-faceted phenotypic properties.
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4
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Zhang Z, Zhou J, Tan P, Pang Y, Rivkin AC, Kirchgessner MA, Williams E, Lee CT, Liu H, Franklin AD, Miyazaki PA, Bartlett A, Aldridge AI, Vu M, Boggeman L, Fitzpatrick C, Nery JR, Castanon RG, Rashid M, Jacobs MW, Ito-Cole T, O'Connor C, Pinto-Duartec A, Dominguez B, Smith JB, Niu SY, Lee KF, Jin X, Mukamel EA, Behrens MM, Ecker JR, Callaway EM. Epigenomic diversity of cortical projection neurons in the mouse brain. Nature 2021; 598:167-173. [PMID: 34616065 PMCID: PMC8494636 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03223-w] [Citation(s) in RCA: 32] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/01/2020] [Accepted: 01/11/2021] [Indexed: 01/02/2023]
Abstract
Neuronal cell types are classically defined by their molecular properties, anatomy and functions. Although recent advances in single-cell genomics have led to high-resolution molecular characterization of cell type diversity in the brain1, neuronal cell types are often studied out of the context of their anatomical properties. To improve our understanding of the relationship between molecular and anatomical features that define cortical neurons, here we combined retrograde labelling with single-nucleus DNA methylation sequencing to link neural epigenomic properties to projections. We examined 11,827 single neocortical neurons from 63 cortico-cortical and cortico-subcortical long-distance projections. Our results showed unique epigenetic signatures of projection neurons that correspond to their laminar and regional location and projection patterns. On the basis of their epigenomes, intra-telencephalic cells that project to different cortical targets could be further distinguished, and some layer 5 neurons that project to extra-telencephalic targets (L5 ET) formed separate clusters that aligned with their axonal projections. Such separation varied between cortical areas, which suggests that there are area-specific differences in L5 ET subtypes, which were further validated by anatomical studies. Notably, a population of cortico-cortical projection neurons clustered with L5 ET rather than intra-telencephalic neurons, which suggests that a population of L5 ET cortical neurons projects to both targets. We verified the existence of these neurons by dual retrograde labelling and anterograde tracing of cortico-cortical projection neurons, which revealed axon terminals in extra-telencephalic targets including the thalamus, superior colliculus and pons. These findings highlight the power of single-cell epigenomic approaches to connect the molecular properties of neurons with their anatomical and projection properties.
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Affiliation(s)
- Zhuzhu Zhang
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jingtian Zhou
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Bioinformatics and Systems Biology Program, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Pengcheng Tan
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China
| | - Yan Pang
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Angeline C Rivkin
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Megan A Kirchgessner
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Elora Williams
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Cheng-Ta Lee
- Peptide Biology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Hanqing Liu
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
- Division of Biological Sciences, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Alexis D Franklin
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Paula Assakura Miyazaki
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Anna Bartlett
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Andrew I Aldridge
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Minh Vu
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Lara Boggeman
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Conor Fitzpatrick
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Joseph R Nery
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Rosa G Castanon
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Mohammad Rashid
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Matthew W Jacobs
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Tony Ito-Cole
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Carolyn O'Connor
- Flow Cytometry Core Facility, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - António Pinto-Duartec
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Bertha Dominguez
- Peptide Biology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Jared B Smith
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Sheng-Yong Niu
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Kuo-Fen Lee
- Peptide Biology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Xin Jin
- Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Eran A Mukamel
- Department of Cognitive Science, University of California, San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - M Margarita Behrens
- Computational Neurobiology Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Joseph R Ecker
- Genomic Analysis Laboratory, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
- Howard Hughes Medical Institute, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
| | - Edward M Callaway
- Systems Neurobiology Laboratories, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies, La Jolla, CA, USA.
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