Seminar “Stereo-Seq to study the brain gene expression across species” – Prof. Wei-Wu

Speaker: Prof. Wei-Wu

Title of Talk: Stereo-Seq to study the brain gene expression across species

The whole-brain single-cell spatial transcriptome atlas and cross-species comparison
The brain is the most complex organ of humans with the highest heterogeneity of cell types. The composition and spatial location of different neuron subtypes, as well as their precise connections, are the basis for brain functions. Rapid advances in spatial transcriptomic technologies allow spatial mapping of gene expression as well as cellular subtypes at single-cell resolution of brain sections. We applied Stereo-Seq technology developed by BGI, to construct the whole-brain cell atlas for macaques, marmoset, and mice, with hundreds of coronal slices of spatial transcriptome across the whole brain per animal. Single-cell spatial transcriptome reveals cell-type organization in the macaque cortex and cross-species comparative analysis identified primate-specific cell types enriched in cortical layer 4, whose marker genes are expressed in a region-dependent manner (Chen et al., Cell 2023). Whole-brain cell atlas provides the cellular and molecular basis for understanding the function, evolution, development, aging, and pathogenesis of the brain.

Host: Vicent Pelechano & Claudia Kutter