Molecular heterogeneity of midbrain dopaminergic neurons--Moving toward single cell resolution.
Since their discovery, midbrain dopamine (DA) neurons have been researched extensively, in part because of their diverse functions and involvement in various neuropsychiatric disorders. Over the last few decades, reports have emerged that midbrain DA neurons were not a homogeneous group, but that DA neurons located in distinct anatomical locations within the midbrain had distinctive properties in terms of physiology, function, and vulnerability. Accordingly, several studies focused on identifying heterogeneous gene expression across DA neuron clusters. Here we review the importance of understanding DA neuron heterogeneity at the molecular level, previous studies detailing heterogeneous gene expression in DA neurons, and finally recent work which brings together previous heterogeneous gene expression profiles in a coordinated manner, at single cell resolution.
Department of Neurology and Center for Genetic Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, United States.
Angela
A
Anderegg
Department of Neurology and Center for Genetic Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, United States.
Jean-Francois
JF
Poulin
Department of Neurology and Center for Genetic Medicine, Northwestern University, Chicago, IL 60611, United States.
Rajeshwar
R
Awatramani
D000818:Animals; D059290:Dopaminergic Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D018740:Genetic Heterogeneity; D006801:Humans; D008636:Mesencephalon / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000473:pathology; D010300:Parkinson Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis; D059467:Transcriptome
Dopamine neuron subtypes; Midbrain; Molecular diversity; Selective vulnerability; Single cell expression profiling