Transcriptomes of individual substantia nigra pars reticulata neurons

Certain neuron types fire spontaneously at high rates, an ability that is crucial for their function in brain circuits. The spontaneously active GABAergic neurons of the substantia nigra pars reticulata (SNr), a major output of the basal ganglia, provide tonic inhibition of downstream brain areas. A depolarizing "leak" current supports this firing pattern, but its molecular basis remains poorly understood. To understand how SNr neurons maintain tonic activity, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to determine the transcriptome of individual SNr neurons. We discovered that SNr neurons express the sodium leak current, NaLCN and that SNr neurons lacking NaLCN have impaired spontaneous firing. Overall design: RNA sequencing profiles from 87 GFP-positive GABAergic SNr neurons and 9 GFP-negative SNr cells were carried out. However only 80 samples that passed initial quality control and that were included in the data processing are represented in this record.

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Lutas A, Lahmann C, Soumillon M, Yellen G