HCA Data Explorer

Single nucleus RNA-sequencing defines unexpected diversity of cholinergic neuron types in the adult mouse spinal cord.

Updated October 1, 2022

In vertebrates, motor control relies on cholinergic neurons in the spinal cord that have been extensively studied over the past hundred years, yet the full heterogeneity of these neurons and their different functional roles in the adult remain to be defined. Here, we develop a targeted single nuclear RNA sequencing approach and use it to identify an array of cholinergic interneurons, visceral and skeletal motor neurons. Our data expose markers for distinguishing these classes of cholinergic neurons and their rich diversity. Specifically, visceral motor neurons, which provide autonomic control, can be divided into more than a dozen transcriptomic classes with anatomically restricted localization along the spinal cord. The complexity of the skeletal motor neurons is also reflected in our analysis with alpha, gamma, and a third subtype, possibly corresponding to the elusive beta motor neurons, clearly distinguished. In combination, our data provide a comprehensive transcriptomic description of this important population of neurons that control many aspects of physiology and movement and encompass the cellular substrates for debilitating degenerative disorders.

Claire E Le PichonEunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.claire.lepichon@nih.gov
Mor R Alkaslasi1
Zoe E Piccus1
Sangeetha Hareendran1
Hanna Silberberg1
Li Chen1
Yajun Zhang1
Timothy J Petros1
Claire E Le Pichon1
1Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
Ami Day

To reference this project, please use the following link:

https://explore.data.humancellatlas.org/projects/a7c66eb1-4a4e-4f6c-9e30-ad2a485f8301

Supplementary links are provided by contributors and represent items such as additional data which can’t be hosted here; code that was used to analyze this data; or tools and visualizations associated with this specific dataset.

1.http://www.spinalcordatlas.org/2.https://seqseek.ninds.nih.gov/
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Analysis Portals

None

Project Label

Alkaslasi2021

Species

Mus musculus

Sample Type

specimens

Anatomical Entity

spinal cord

Organ Part

4 organ parts

Selected Cell Types

Unspecified

Disease Status (Specimen)

normal

Disease Status (Donor)

normal

Development Stage

juvenile days 45-89

Library Construction Method

10x 3' v3

Nucleic Acid Source

single nucleus

Paired End

false

Analysis Protocol

analysis_protocol_cell_type_assignment, analysis_protocol_normalization, analysis_protocol_quantification

File Format

6 file formats

Cell Count Estimate

34.2k

Donor Count

12
csv1 file(s)csv.gz1 file(s)fastq.gz44 file(s)h59 file(s)tar.gz9 file(s)xlsx1 file(s)