Project description:Interoceptors are the sensory neurons that monitor internal organs and states, essential for physiological homeostasis and generating interoception.Here, we describe a comprehensive, high-quality molecular atlas of interoceptors of the mouse lung, identifing 10 molecular subtypes, which differ in developmental origin, myelination, receptive fields, and cell contacts in the organ. Each subtype expresses a unique but overlapping combination of sensory receptors that detect diverse physiological and pathological stimuli, and each can signal to distinct sets of lung cells including immune cells, forming an intricate local neuroimmune interaction network. Functional interrogation of two mechanosensory subtypes reveals exquisitely-specific homeostatic roles in breathing, one regulating inspiratory time and the other inspiratory flow. These suggest that lung interoceptors encode diverse and dynamic sensory information rivaling that of canonical exteroceptors, and this information is used to drive myriad local cellular interactions and enable precision control of breathing, while providing only vague perceptions of oragn states.
Project description:The dorsal raphe nucleus (DRN) is an important source of neuromodulators and has been implicated in a wide variety of behavioral and neurological disorders. The DRN is subdivided into distinct anatomical subregions comprised of multiple cell types, and its complex cellular organization has impeded efforts to investigate the distinct circuit and behavioral functions of its subdomains. Here we used single-cell RNA sequencing, in situ hybridization, anatomical tracing, and spatial correlation analysis to map the transcriptional and spatial profiles of cells from the mouse DRN. Our analysis of 39,411 single-cell transcriptomes revealed at least 18 distinct neuron subtypes and 5 serotonergic neuron subtypes with distinct molecular and anatomical properties, including a serotonergic neuron subtype that preferentially innervates the basal ganglia. Our study lays out the molecular organization of distinct serotonergic and non-serotonergic subsystems, and will facilitate the design of strategies for further dissection the DRN and its diverse functions.
Project description:Skin has distinct characteristics depending on the anatomical site; however, the cell and molecular differences, and their functional implications, have been little described. RNA-sequencing of healthy adult mouse skin from the abdomen, back, and face/cheek has revealed that dermis from different sites is distinct, and that this aligns with their diverse embryonic origins (abdominal dermis develops from lateral plate mesoderm, dorsal dermis from paraxial mesoderm, and cheek dermis from neural crest). The functional implications for wound repair are evident from the differences in extracellular matrix and cell migration observed in tissue and dermal fibroblasts from these sites, and the histological and transcriptional variations during a wound response.