Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jan 23, 2026

Identification of Alternative Splicing and Polyadenylation in RNA-seq Data
Published on: June 24, 2021
Single-Cell RNA-Seq Reveals Developmental Origins and Ontogenetic Stability of Neurexin Alternative Splicing Profiles
David Lukacsovich1, Jochen Winterer1, Lin Que1
1Laboratory of Neural Connectivity, Brain Research Institute, Faculties of Medicine and Natural Sciences, University of Zürich, Winterthurerstrasse 190, 8057 Zürich, Switzerland.
Abstract:
Neurexins are key synaptic organizers that are expressed in thousands of alternatively spliced isoforms. Because transsynaptic neurexin interactions with different postsynaptic molecules are largely isoform dependent, a cell type-level census of different neurexin isoforms could predict molecular interactions relating to synapse identity and function. Using single-cell transcriptomics to study the origin of neurexin diversity in multiple murine mature and embryonic cell types, we have discovered shared neurexin expression patterns in developmentally related cells. By comparing neurexin profiles in immature embryonic neurons, we show that neurexin profiles are specified during early development and remain unchanged throughout neuronal maturation. Thus, our findings reveal ontogenetic stability and provide a cell type-level census of neurexin isoform expression in the cortex.
Related Concept Videos
Alternative RNA Splicing
There are five types of alternative RNA splicing that vary in the ways the pre-mRNA segments are removed or retained in the mature mRNA. The first...
Alternative RNA Splicing
RNA Splicing
RNA Stability
RNA-seq
Before the discovery of RNA-seq, microarray-based methods and Sanger sequencing were used for transcriptome analysis. However, while...
Chromatin Structure and RNA Splicing

