Single-cell chromatin accessibility landscape profiling reveals the diversity of epigenetic regulation in the rat nervous system

The mammalian nervous system controls complex functions through specialized structures. Single-cell sequencing reveals cell-type-specific chromatin structure and regulatory elements, showing differences in chromatin organization between cell types and their roles in brain function. Researchers generated a chromatin accessibility dataset via single-cell ATAC-seq of 174,593 nuclei from 16 adult rat brain regions, identifying neuronal and non-neuronal cell subtypes with specific distributions and characterizing gene regulatory elements associated with cell type-specific regions. The study integrated scATAC-seq data with RNA-seq data from the spinal cord and midbrain to investigate gene regulatory networks involved in spinal cord regeneration, identifying regeneration-related elements centered on the transcription factor Jun in OPCs.

• 1
  Identified cell subtypes of both neuronal and non-neuronal cells with highly specific distributions in 16 adult rat brain regions.
• 2
  Characterized gene regulatory elements associated with cell type-specific regions, providing insights into the molecular architecture of the mammalian nervous system.
• 3
  Integrated scATAC-seq and snRNA-seq data to identify detailed regeneration-related elements by drawing GRNs centered on the transcription factor Jun in OPCs, particularly in the spinal cord and midbrain.