GSE116484
Transcriptional alterations in Nucleus Accumbens somatostatin interneurons following exposure to cocaine
Total RNA-sequencing of FACs isolated nucleus accumbens somatostatin interneuron nuclei Somatostatin interneuron loss in multiple cortical brain regions has been observed postmortem in humans with several neuropsychiatric disorders and their loss is proposed to underlie some common pathological changes in circuit function across numerous syndromes. However, somatostatin interneurons in the nucleus accumbens (NAc), a key brain reward region, remain poorly understood due to the fact that these cells account for <1% of NAc neurons. Here, we used Flouresence activated cell sorting to isolate nuclei of somatostatin-expressing interneurons in the Nucleus Accumbens from individual SST-TLG498 reporter mice that express membrane bound EGFP-F specifically in somatostatin-expressing neurons. We then performed cell-type specific Total RNA-sequencing to characterize the entire transcriptome of NAc somatostatin interneurons after repeated exposure (7 days) to either saline or cocaine. We identified a wide variety of coding and non-coding transcripts that were expressed at high levels and were differentially expressed between saline and cocaine treated mice. Repeated cocaine administration induces transcriptome-wide changes in gene expression within NAc somatostatin interneurons, with particular regulation of transcripts related to neural plasticity. Our results identify alterations in NAc induced by cocaine in a sparse population of somatostatin interneurons, and illustrate the value of studying brain diseases using cell type-specific whole transcriptome RNA-sequencing to identify novel neurpathophysiology. Overall design: 10 Saline and 10 Cocaine treated mice were compared for using total RNA-sequencing to identify differences in transcription between the groups