Project description:Purpose: The gene molecular network involved in teleost fish sex determination and differentiation is highly variable among species and even in some cases among populations of the same species. The objectives of the present study were to identify the period of gonadal sex differentiation in tambaqui juveniles, as well as the genes and pathways potentially involved in this process. Methods: Histological analysis of juveniles was carried out to establish a timeline of the gonadal differentiation in tambaqui. Based on that knowledge, ten juveniles were selected before the first evidence of histological sex differentiation and total RNA was extracted from their trunks and used for RNA-Sequencing and a subsequent de novo transcriptome assembly. Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of the whole transcriptome data was used to cluster samples into two distinct groups: putative males and putative females. Differential gene expression, functional annotation and gene enrichment were used to identify genes and pathways related to sex differentiation in tambaqui to which was applied the Mann-Whitney non-parametric t test (p <0.05) confirming the statistical significance of the expression dimorphism between the groups. Results: The first sign of histological sex differentiation in tambaqui was the formation of the ovarian cavity detected in individuals measuring about 40 mm in total length. Before the differentiation period, components of the Wnt / β-catenin pathway, fox and fst genes (p <0.05) suggest female sex development in the putative females, whereas antagonistic pathways (gsk3b, wt1 and fgfr2), sox9 and genes for androgen synthesis (p <0.05) are indicative of a male-like differentiation. Conclusions: Tambaqui juveniles prior to the morphological ovarian differentiation present the Wnt / β-catenin pathway exerting putative role on the sex differentiation target, either upregulated in female-like individuals, or antagonized in male-like individuals. Thus, the present work provides a molecular basis for future studies on the application of tambaqui monosex cultivation.
Project description:Non-lymphoid tissues (NLTs) harbour a pool of adaptive immune cells distinct from their counterparts in lymphoid tissues, and their development and phenotype remains largely unexplored. We used scRNA-seq to survey CD4+ T regulatory (Treg) and memory T (Tmem) cells in spleen, lymph nodes, skin and colon in an unbiased way, in mouse. This cross-tissues comparison allows us to obtain marker genes for immune populations in specific locations, as well as examine each population's heterogeneity. Additionally, a continuous phenotype of Treg migration can be modelled from the mouse data, unravelling the transcriptional stages through which these cells transition between tissues.
Project description:We performed a comprehensive survey of DR and MR serotonin neurons in the adult mouse brain by scRNA-seq. To specifically label serotonin neurons, we crossed Sert-Cre mice (Gong et al., 2007) with the tdTomato Cre reporter mouse, Ai14 (Madisen et al., 2010). (Serotonin transporter, or Sert, is a marker for serotonin neurons; see more details below.) We collected serotonin neurons acutely dissociated from brain slices by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and used Smart-seq2 (Picelli et al., 2013) to generate scRNA-seq libraries.