No abstract

Microglia, the resident myeloid cells of the central nervous system, play important roles in life-long brain maintenance and in pathology. Despite their importance, their regulatory dynamics during brain development have not been fully elucidated. Using genome-wide chromatin and expression profiling coupled with single-cell transcriptomic analysis throughout development, we found that microglia undergo three temporal stages of development in synchrony with the brain--early, pre-, and adult microglia--which are under distinct regulatory circuits. Knockout of the gene encoding the adult microglia transcription factor MAFB and environmental perturbations, such as those affecting the microbiome or prenatal immune activation, led to disruption of developmental genes and immune response pathways. Together, our work identifies a stepwise microglia developmental program integrating immune response pathways that may be associated with several neurodevelopmental disorders.

Spatially resolved single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) is a powerful approach for inferring connections between a cell's identity and its position in a tissue. We recently combined scRNAseq with spatially mapped landmark genes to infer the expression zonation of hepatocytes. However, determining zonation of small cells with low mRNA content, or without highly expressed landmark genes, remains challenging. Here we used paired-cell sequencing, in which mRNA from pairs of attached mouse cells were sequenced and gene expression from one cell type was used to infer the pairs' tissue coordinates. We applied this method to pairs of hepatocytes and liver endothelial cells (LECs). Using the spatial information from hepatocytes, we reconstructed LEC zonation and extracted a landmark gene panel that we used to spatially map LEC scRNAseq data. Our approach revealed the expression of both Wnt ligands and the Dkk3 Wnt antagonist in distinct pericentral LEC sub-populations. This approach can be used to reconstruct spatial expression maps of non-parenchymal cells in other tissues.

Highlights d Single-cell signaling map of lung development identifies inter-lineage crosstalk d Lung-resident basophils are broadly interacting cells located near alveoli d Lung environment imprints the gene signature of basophils via IL33 and GM-CSF d Basophils regulate alveolar macrophage maturation and immunomodulation functions

SummarymRNA is thought to predominantly reside in the cytoplasm, where it is translated and eventually degraded. Although nuclear retention of mRNA has a regulatory potential, it is considered extremely rare in mammals. Here, to explore the extent of mRNA retention in metabolic tissues, we combine deep sequencing of nuclear and cytoplasmic RNA fractions with single-molecule transcript imaging in mouse beta cells, liver, and gut. We identify a wide range of protein-coding genes for which the levels of spliced polyadenylated mRNA are higher in the nucleus than in the cytoplasm. These include genes such as the transcription factor ChREBP, Nlrp6, Glucokinase, and Glucagon receptor. We demonstrate that nuclear retention of mRNA can efficiently buffer cytoplasmic transcript levels from noise that emanates from transcriptional bursts. Our study challenges the view that transcripts predominantly reside in the cytoplasm and reveals a role of the nucleus in dampening gene expression noise.

Bursts of nascent mRNA have been shown to lead to substantial cell-cell variation in unicellular organisms, facilitating diverse responses to environmental challenges. It is unknown whether similar bursts and gene-expression noise occur in mammalian tissues. To address this, we combine single molecule transcript counting with dual-color labeling and quantification of nascent mRNA to characterize promoter states, transcription rates, and transcript lifetimes in the intact mouse liver. We find that liver gene expression is highly bursty, with promoters stochastically switching between transcriptionally active and inactive states. Promoters of genes with short mRNA lifetimes are active longer, facilitating rapid response while reducing burst-associated noise. Moreover, polyploid hepatocytes exhibit less noise than diploid hepatocytes, suggesting a possible benefit to liver polyploidy. Thus, temporal averaging and liver polyploidy dampen the intrinsic variability associated with transcriptional bursts. Our approach can be used to study transcriptional bursting in diverse mammalian tissues.

The intestinal epithelium is a highly structured tissue composed of repeating crypt-villus units1,2. Enterocytes, which constitute the most abundant cell type, perform the diverse tasks of absorbing a wide range of nutrients while protecting the body from the harsh bacterial-rich environment. It is unknown if these tasks are equally performed by all enterocytes or whether they are spatially zonated along the villus axis3. Here, we performed whole-transcriptome measurements of laser-capture-microdissected villus segments to extract a large panel of landmark genes, expressed in a zonated manner. We used these genes to localize single sequenced enterocytes along the villus axis, thus reconstructing a global spatial expression map. We found that most enterocyte genes were zonated. Enterocytes at villi bottoms expressed an anti-bacterial Reg gene program in a microbiome-dependent manner, potentially reducing the crypt pathogen exposure. Translation, splicing and respiration genes steadily decreased in expression towards the villi tops, whereas distinct mid-top villus zones sub-specialized in the absorption of carbohydrates, peptides and fat. Enterocytes at the villi tips exhibited a unique gene-expression signature consisting of Klf4, Egfr, Neat1, Malat1, cell adhesion and purine metabolism genes. Our study exposes broad spatial heterogeneity of enterocytes, which could be important for achieving their diverse tasks.

Highlights d Laser capture microdissection reveals a large panel of enterocyte landmark genes d These genes are used to spatially localize single RNAsequenced enterocytes d Enterocyte function is broadly zonated along the villus axis d Enterocytes traverse a series of cell states during their migration along the villus Authors