A detailed single-cell atlas of the whole mouse brain broadens our knowledge of the brain and increases our neuroscience toolset.
The latest research funded by the NIH’s Brain Research Through Advancing Innovative Neurotechnologies® Initiative, or The BRAIN Initiative®, pushes the field of neuroscience forward with a collection of articles that unveil an unprecedented map of the entire mouse brain. Previously, only partial brain maps of various species existed. However, this groundbreaking advancement lays the foundation for understanding the intricacies of brain function, which may pave the way to future therapeutics in brain disease and dysfunction. These articles, published today in Nature, are the culmination of cross-cutting collaborative science from a team of international researchers.
The papers now give researchers access to a comprehensive blueprint of more than 5000 neuronal and non-neuronal cell types, their location, and molecular information within the whole mouse brain based on assays on over 32 million cells. The inventory also includes single-cell multiomic assays of over 200,000 cells and their regulatory features in the primary motor cortex of different species, including humans, non-human primates, and mice. This advancement provides a detailed experimental model for investigating mental and neurological disorders of the human brain.
The NIH BRAIN Initiative has been supporting BRAIN science for almost a decade. As we approach this milestone, the BRAIN Initiative Cell Census Network takes a momentous step forward by reaching its goal of generating comprehensive 3D brain cell atlases that integrate molecular, anatomical, and functional data for describing cell types in the brain. This research lays the groundwork for the BRAIN Initiative Cell Atlas Network, the BRAIN Initiative’s next effort to understand the cell and cellular functions of the mammalian brain.
Read more in the press release.
Image: Spatial distribution of diverse cell types in the mouse brain. Here, MERFISH was used to measure 500 genes in the mouse brain to reveal the complex distribution of cell types throughout the brain.