Single-Cell Analysis of the Gene Expression Effects of Developmental Lead (Pb) Exposure on the Mouse Hippocampus

Lead (Pb) exposure is ubiquitous with permanent neurodevelopmental effects. The hippocampus brain region is involved in learning and memory with heterogeneous cellular composition. The hippocampus cell type-specific responses to Pb are unknown. The objective of this study is to examine perinatal Pb treatment effects on adult hippocampus gene expression, at the level of individual cells. In mice perinatally exposed to control water or a human physiologically relevant level (32 ppm in maternal drinking water) of Pb, 2 weeks prior to mating through weaning, we tested for hippocampus gene expression and cellular differences at 5 months of age. We sequenced RNA from 5258 hippocampal cells to (1) test for treatment gene expression differences averaged across all cells, (2) compare cell cluster composition by treatment, and (3) test for treatment gene expression and pathway differences within cell clusters. Gene expression patterns revealed 12 hippocampus cell clusters, mapping to major expected cell types (eg, microglia, astrocytes, neurons, and oligodendrocytes). Perinatal Pb treatment was associated with 12.4% more oligodendrocytes (p = 4.4 × 10-21) in adult mice. Across all cells, Pb treatment was associated with expression of cell cluster marker genes. Within cell clusters, Pb treatment (q < 0.05) caused differential gene expression in endothelial, microglial, pericyte, and astrocyte cells. Pb treatment upregulated protein folding pathways in microglia (p = 3.4 × 10-9) and stress response in oligodendrocytes (p = 3.2 × 10-5). Bulk tissue analysis may be influenced by changes in cell type composition, obscuring effects within vulnerable cell types. This study serves as a biological reference for future single-cell toxicant studies, to ultimately characterize molecular effects on cognition and behavior.