CBDS Single Cell Research In Progress Seminar: Transcriptomic Taxonomy and Neurogenic Potential of Adult Human, Macaque and Pig Hippocampal and Entorhinal Cells by Shaojie (Jay) Ma

The hippocampal-entorhinal system supports cognitive functions, has lifelong neurogenic capabilities in many species, and is selectively vulnerable to Alzheimer’s disease. To investigate neurogenic potential and cellular diversity, we profiled single-nucleus transcriptomes in five hippocampal-entorhinal subregions in human, macaque, and pig. Integrated cross-species analysis revealed robust transcriptomic and histologic signatures of neurogenesis in adult mouse, pig and macaque, but not humans. Doublecortin (DCX), a widely accepted marker of newly generated granule cells, was detected in diverse human neurons, but it did not define immature neuron populations. To explore species differences in cellular diversity and implications for disease, we characterized subregion-specific transcriptomically-defined cell types and transitional changes from the three-layered archicortex to the six-layered neocortex. Notably, METTL7B defined subregion-specific excitatory neurons and astrocytes in primates, associated with endoplasmic reticulum and lipid droplet proteins,

Shaojie (Jay) Ma is currently a fifth-year Ph.D. student in Sestan lab. He received his B.S. degree in Biotechnology in Shanghai JiaoTong University in 2017. His current research interest is genomic analysis of brain development and evolution.