| First Author | Winter CC | Year | 2023 |
| Journal | Nature | Volume | 624 |
| Issue | 7991 | Pages | 403-414 |
| PubMed ID | 38092914 | Mgi Jnum | J:361408 |
| Mgi Id | MGI:7647110 | Doi | 10.1038/s41586-023-06817-8 |
| Citation | Winter CC, et al. (2023) A transcriptomic taxonomy of mouse brain-wide spinal projecting neurons. Nature 624(7991):403-414 |
| abstractText | The brain controls nearly all bodily functions via spinal projecting neurons (SPNs) that carry command signals from the brain to the spinal cord. However, a comprehensive molecular characterization of brain-wide SPNs is still lacking. Here we transcriptionally profiled a total of 65,002 SPNs, identified 76 region-specific SPN types, and mapped these types into a companion atlas of the whole mouse brain(1). This taxonomy reveals a three-component organization of SPNs: (1) molecularly homogeneous excitatory SPNs from the cortex, red nucleus and cerebellum with somatotopic spinal terminations suitable for point-to-point communication; (2) heterogeneous populations in the reticular formation with broad spinal termination patterns, suitable for relaying commands related to the activities of the entire spinal cord; and (3) modulatory neurons expressing slow-acting neurotransmitters and/or neuropeptides in the hypothalamus, midbrain and reticular formation for 'gain setting' of brain-spinal signals. In addition, this atlas revealed a LIM homeobox transcription factor code that parcellates the reticulospinal neurons into five molecularly distinct and spatially segregated populations. Finally, we found transcriptional signatures of a subset of SPNs with large soma size and correlated these with fast-firing electrophysiological properties. Together, this study establishes a comprehensive taxonomy of brain-wide SPNs and provides insight into the functional organization of SPNs in mediating brain control of bodily functions. |
