Transcriptome profiling of the Olig2-expressing astrocyte subtype reveals their unique molecular signature

David Ohayon; Marion Aguirrebengoa; Nathalie Escalas; Thomas Jungas; Cathy Soula

doi:10.1016/j.isci.2021.102806

Transcriptome profiling of the Olig2-expressing astrocyte subtype reveals their unique molecular signature

iScience. 2021 Jul 1;24(7):102806. doi: 10.1016/j.isci.2021.102806. eCollection 2021 Jul 23.

Authors

David Ohayon¹, Marion Aguirrebengoa², Nathalie Escalas¹, Thomas Jungas¹, Cathy Soula¹

Affiliations

¹ Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology department (MCD) UMR 5077 CNRS, Centre de Biologie Intégrative (CBI), Université Paul Sabatier, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, France.
² BigA Core Facility, Centre de Biologie Intégrative, Université de Toulouse, 118 Route de Narbonne, 31062 Toulouse, France.

Abstract

Astrocytes are recognized to be a heterogeneous population of cells that differ morphologically, functionally, and molecularly. Whether this heterogeneity results from generation of distinct astrocyte cell lineages, each functionally specialized to perform specific tasks, remains an open question. In this study, we used RNA sequencing analysis to determine the global transcriptome profile of the Olig2-expressing astrocyte subtype (Olig2-AS), a specific spinal astrocyte subtype that segregates early during development from Olig2 progenitors and differs from other spinal astrocytes by the expression of Olig2. We identified 245 differentially expressed genes. Among them, 135 exhibit higher levels of expression when compared with other populations of spinal astrocytes, indicating that these genes can serve as a "unique" functional signature of Olig2-AS. Among them, we identify two genes, inka2 and kcnip3, as specific molecular markers of the Olig2-AS in the P7 spinal cord. Our work thus reveals that Olig2 progenitors produce a unique spinal astrocyte subtype.

Keywords: Cellular neuroscience; Omics; Transcriptomics.