title: Single neuron transcriptome analysis can reveal more than cell type classification: Does it matter if every neuron is unique?
abstract: A recent single cell mRNA sequencing study by Dueck et al. compares neuronal transcriptomes to the transcriptomes of adipocytes and cardiomyocytes. Single cell omic approaches such as those used by the authors are at the leading edge of molecular and biophysical measurement. Many groups are currently employing single cell sequencing approaches to understand cellular heterogeneity in cancer and during normal development. These single cell approaches also are beginning to address long-standing questions regarding nervous system diversity. Beyond an innate interest in cataloging cell type diversity in the brain, single cell neuronal diversity has important implications for neurotypic neural circuit function and for neurological disease. Herein, we review the authors' methods and findings, which most notably include evidence of unique expression profiles in some single neurons.
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.|Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.
authors.forename: Lise J
authors.initials: LJ
authors.lastname: Harbom
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.|Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.
authors.forename: William D
authors.initials: WD
authors.lastname: Chronister
authors.affiliation: Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.|Neurosciences Graduate Program, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.|Biomedical Sciences Graduate Program, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.|Center for Brain Immunology and Glia, University of Virginia School of Medicine, Charlottesville, Virginia.
authors.forename: Michael J
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: McConnell
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling / Q000379:methods; D006801:Humans; D009420:Nervous System / Q000378:metabolism; D009474:Neurons / Q000378:metabolism*; D012333:RNA, Messenger / Q000235:genetics; D059010:Single-Cell Analysis; D059467:Transcriptome / Q000235:genetics*
chemical_list: D012333:RNA, Messenger
keywords: brain somatic mosaicism; neuronal diversity; single cell genomics