Online now: A transcriptomic atlas of astrocyte heterogeneity across space and time in mouse and marmoset https://t.co/Yase3hGQnA

A cellular atlas developed by MIT researchers details the dynamic diversity of astrocytes and provides a framework for exploring how these ⭐️shaped cells contribute to brain development, function & disease. https://t.co/CtzZCiVK5r Stunning astrocyte image courtesy of @meschro

Code on GitHub ( https://t.co/WOzPKhCbZI) and images on BossDB ( https://t.co/8M6ILQUpff).

Raw data (fastqs, h5 count matrices) on NeMO ( https://t.co/nSAYU3ixUV) and GEO ( https://t.co/1qKHWMYp0Q).

Processed data on the Broad Institute Single Cell Portal, searchable and interactive: https://t.co/BdpzVDJeOv (mouse) and https://t.co/ssSKazjYtJ (marmoset).

Though we focused our analysis on astrocytes, we did not sort or select for any particular cell type in our prep. Our dataset is a rich, publicly available resource containing all neural cell types - please explore via the links below, and reach out with any questions!

We then virally labeled astrocytes with GFP and used expansion microscopy to visualize their detailed morphology (it was so fun to take these images!). We quantified their morphological differences and differences in protein expression across regions in mouse.

Looking across species, we found broad conservation at the cell type level. However, several marmoset cell types appeared more mature than their mouse counterparts at birth, and the gene expression signatures underlying astrocyte regional heterogeneity diverged significantly.

As others had shown, we found that astrocytic regional heterogeneity is patterned embryonically. What we were surprised to find was just how much regional astrocyte gene expression signatures change over postnatal development, likely in support of local neuronal circuits.

To answer this question, we profiled millions of single nuclei with 10x Genomics snRNAseq across brain regions (motor and prefrontal cortices, striatum, and thalamus) and developmental time (from late embryonic to aged time points) in mouse and marmoset.

What started out as an exploration of astrocyte regional heterogeneity in the young adult marmoset led us to ask, how early in development is astrocyte regional heterogeneity patterned, and how does it change over developmental time and across mammalian species?

I’m so excited to share my first-author PhD paper, out today in @NeuroCellPress as a NeuroResource! A huge thanks to all of my co-authors, and of course to my wonderful mentors Guoping Feng, @fennamk, and @eboyden3.

Defended my PhD on Friday! Huge thanks to all who helped me achieve this milestone, especially my advisors, thesis committee, and lab-mates!

@meschro 📷 @meschro Astrocyte regional specialization is shaped by postnatal development. Interactive visualizations available at https://t.co/NESkqLNOwV and

Huge thanks to my mentors Dr. Guoping Feng, @eboyden3, and @fennamk for all of their support on this project, and to all the co-authors for their contributions!

Very excited to share our pre-print and my thesis work on the postnatal development of astrocyte regional heterogeneity, which includes an integrated dataset of >1.4 million single nuclei transcriptomes in mouse and marmoset brains (now available online)! https://t.co/jT88PILBXo

And if you want to learn about the developmental trajectory of astrocyte heterogeneity in marmoset and mouse, check out poster BB6 at the TPDA session tonight or board B7 8am-12pm tomorrow! #SfN2023

SfN attendees interested in oligodendrocytes, come hear about Gpr17-IRES-Cre, our new constitutive Cre driver line, at poster D19 today 1-5pm! #SfN2023

Last fall @AshleyJ_Thomas and I co-taught a graduate course called 'Tools for Robust Science' at MIT. The syllabus and materials are now all freely available at https://t.co/9up5gX71Q0 🧵 1/7

Thank you @neubadah, and thanks for your guidance along the way! Couldn't have done it without the help and support of my amazing lab mates and mentors. Honored and grateful!