GSE118020
Single-cell profiling and functional characterization bridge molecular and functional features of NAc neuron subtype
The functional complexity of nucleus accumbens (NAc) has been extensively characterized in recent years. However, the molecular and cellular heterogeneity beyond the established D1 and D2 medium spiny neuron (MSN) subtypes, which likely underlie its diverse functions, are not well understand. Here, we present the cell taxonomy of mouse NAc generated from single-cell transcriptomic profiling, which not only reveals a rich cellular heterogeneity within both NAc MSN and interneuron populations, but also identified tight correlation between the transcriptional feature and spatial distribution of NAc neuron subtypes, supporting the notion that functional heterogeneity of NAc sub-regions can arises from differential distribution of molecularly distinct neuronal populations. To further test this idea, we focused on a D1 MSN subtype identified from our analysis and demonstrated that these cells possess distinct anatomic location, neural connection and more importantly, behavioral function. Collectively, our work not only created comprehensive cell taxonomy of NAc, but also provided insights into how functional heterogeneity is embedded in this brain region. Overall design: To generate a comprehensive cell map of mouse NAc, we dissect this brain region from acute coronal sections of adult mouse brains (8-10 weeks) . After cell dissociation, single cells are captured with the 10X Chromium platform (10X Genomics), followed by cDNA synthesis, library preparation and high-throughput sequencing. A total of 11 Samples were sequenced and merged together