Single-Cell RNA Analysis of Type I Spiral Ganglion Neurons Reveals a Lmx1a Population in the Cochlea

Frontiers in Molecular Neuroscience

Fiorella Carla Grandi¹  Lara De Tomasi²  Mirna Mustapha³ 

[1] Cancer Biology Program, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, United States;Department of Biomedical Science, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, United Kingdom;Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, CA, United States;

关键词: type I spiral ganglion neurons;    single-cell transcriptome;    Lmx1a;    development;    cochlea;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fnmol.2020.00083

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

In the mature cochlea, each inner hair cell (IHC) is innervated by multiple spiral ganglion neurons of type I (SGNI). SGNIs are morphologically and electro-physiologically diverse. Also, they differ in their susceptibility to noise insult. However, the molecular underpinnings of their identity and physiological differences remain poorly understood. In this study, we developed a novel triple transgenic mouse, which enabled the isolation of pure populations of SGNIs and the analysis of a 96-gene panel via single-cell qPCR. We found three distinct populations of Type I SGNs, which were marked by their exclusive expression of Lmx1a, Slc4a4, or Mfap4/Fzd2, respectively, at postnatal days P3, P8, and P12. Our data suggest that afferent SGN subtypes are established genetically before the onset of hearing and that the expression of key physiological markers, such as ion channels, is heterogeneous and may be underlying the heterogeneous firing proprieties of SGNIs.

【 授权许可】

Unknown