Neuronal atlas of the dorsal horn defines its architecture and links sensory input to transcriptional cell types

TY - JOUR

T1 - Neuronal atlas of the dorsal horn defines its architecture and links sensory input to transcriptional cell types

AU - Häring, Martin

AU - Zeisel, Amit

AU - Hochgerner, Hannah

AU - Rinwa, Puneet

AU - Jakobsson, Jon E.T.

AU - Lönnerberg, Peter

AU - La Manno, Gioele

AU - Sharma, Nilesh

AU - Borgius, Lotta

AU - Kiehn, Ole

AU - Lagerström, Malin C.

AU - Linnarsson, Sten

AU - Ernfors, Patrik

PY - 2018

Y1 - 2018

N2 - The dorsal horn of the spinal cord is critical to processing distinct modalities of noxious and innocuous sensation, but little is known of the neuronal subtypes involved, hampering efforts to deduce principles governing somatic sensation. Here we used single-cell RNA sequencing to classify sensory neurons in the mouse dorsal horn. We identified 15 inhibitory and 15 excitatory molecular subtypes of neurons, equaling the complexity in cerebral cortex. Validating our classification scheme in vivo and matching cell types to anatomy of the dorsal horn by spatial transcriptomics reveals laminar enrichment for each of the cell types. Neuron types, when combined, define a multilayered organization with like neurons layered together. Employing our scheme, we find that heat and cold stimuli activate discrete sets of both excitatory and inhibitory neuron types. This work provides a systematic and comprehensive molecular classification of spinal cord sensory neurons, enabling functional interrogation of sensory processing.

AB - The dorsal horn of the spinal cord is critical to processing distinct modalities of noxious and innocuous sensation, but little is known of the neuronal subtypes involved, hampering efforts to deduce principles governing somatic sensation. Here we used single-cell RNA sequencing to classify sensory neurons in the mouse dorsal horn. We identified 15 inhibitory and 15 excitatory molecular subtypes of neurons, equaling the complexity in cerebral cortex. Validating our classification scheme in vivo and matching cell types to anatomy of the dorsal horn by spatial transcriptomics reveals laminar enrichment for each of the cell types. Neuron types, when combined, define a multilayered organization with like neurons layered together. Employing our scheme, we find that heat and cold stimuli activate discrete sets of both excitatory and inhibitory neuron types. This work provides a systematic and comprehensive molecular classification of spinal cord sensory neurons, enabling functional interrogation of sensory processing.

U2 - 10.1038/s41593-018-0141-1

DO - 10.1038/s41593-018-0141-1

M3 - Journal article

C2 - 29686262

AN - SCOPUS:85045831133

SN - 1097-6256

VL - 21

SP - 869

EP - 880

JO - Nature Neuroscience

JF - Nature Neuroscience

IS - 6

ER -