Single-Cell Transcriptomics Reveals a Population of Dormant Neural Stem Cells that Become Activated upon Brain Injury.
Updated August 30, 2022Heterogeneous pools of adult neural stem cells (NSCs) contribute to brain maintenance and regeneration after injury. The balance of NSC activation and quiescence, as well as the induction of lineage-specific transcription factors, may contribute to diversity of neuronal and glial fates. To identify molecular hallmarks governing these characteristics, we performed single-cell sequencing of an unbiased pool of adult subventricular zone NSCs. This analysis identified a discrete, dormant NSC subpopulation that already expresses distinct combinations of lineage-specific transcription factors during homeostasis. Dormant NSCs enter a primed-quiescent state before activation, which is accompanied by downregulation of glycolytic metabolism, Notch, and BMP signaling and a concomitant upregulation of lineage-specific transcription factors and protein synthesis. In response to brain ischemia, interferon gamma signaling induces dormant NSC subpopulations to enter the primed-quiescent state. This study unveils general principles underlying NSC activation and lineage priming and opens potential avenues for regenerative medicine in the brain.
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Analysis Portals
NoneProject Label
GSE67833_neural_stem_cellsSpecies
Sample Type
Anatomical Entity
Organ Part
Selected Cell Types
Disease Status (Specimen)
Disease Status (Donor)
Development Stage
Library Construction Method
Nucleic Acid Source
Paired End
trueAnalysis Protocol
MultiSampleSmartSeq2_v2.2.6, SmartSeq2SingleSample_v5.1.5File Format
Cell Count Estimate
272Donor Count
6