Cell type-specific translatome profiling of astrocytes and microglia across mouse brain regions using RiboTag
This study investigates cell type-specific gene expression in the mouse brain using RiboTag methodology to isolate translating mRNAs from astrocytes and microglia. We used two mouse lines: RiboTag mice crossed with either Slc1a3-CreERT2 (for astrocytes) or Cx3cr1-CreERT2 (for microglia) to enable cell type-specific ribosome tagging. The brain was divided into three regions: front (cortex/striatum), middle (cortex/hippocampus/thalamus/hypothalamus), and rear (cerebellum/midbrain/brainstem). For each cell type and region, we performed RNA-seq on both total RNA (input) and RiboTag-immunoprecipitated RNA, allowing comparison between cell type-specific translatomes and bulk tissue profiles. This dataset provides insights into cell type-specific gene expression patterns across brain regions and reveals previously unrecognized heterogeneity in ribosomal protein expression between brain cell types.