Back to Search Start Over

Complex cell-state changes revealed by single cell RNA sequencing of 76,149 microglia throughout the mouse lifespan and in the injured brain

Authors :
Evan Z. Macosko
Beth Stevens
Adam Young
Timothy R. Hammond
James Nemesh
Stefanie Giera
Michael Segel
Lasse Dissing-Olesen
Alec J. Walker
Xianhua Piao
Arpiar Saunders
Alec Wysoker
Robin J.M. Franklin
Connor Dufort
Steve McCarroll
Publication Year :
2018
Publisher :
Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, 2018.

Abstract

Microglia, the resident immune cells of the brain, rapidly change states in response to their environment, but we lack molecular and functional signatures of different microglial populations. In this study, we analyzed the RNA expression patterns of more than 76,000 individual microglia during development, old age and after brain injury. Analysis uncovered at least nine transcriptionally distinct microglial states, which expressed unique sets of genes and were localized in the brain using specific markers. The greatest microglial heterogeneity was found at young ages; however, several states - including chemokine-enriched inflammatory microglia - persisted throughout the lifespan or increased in the aged brain. Multiple reactive microglial subtypes were also found following demyelinating injury in mice, at least one of which was also found in human MS lesions. These unique microglia signatures can be used to better understand microglia function and to identify and manipulate specific subpopulations in health and disease.

Details

Database :
OpenAIRE
Accession number :
edsair.doi.dedup.....119e6bf8515a4d6c88cebe0d5bea59b1