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Updated: Oct 15, 2025
Isolation of Region-specific Microglia from One Adult Mouse Brain Hemisphere for Deep Single-cell RNA Sequencing
Published on: December 3, 2019
Heterogeneity and Molecular Markers for CNS Glial Cells Revealed by Single-Cell Transcriptomics
Junjie Sun1, Yixing Song1, Zhiheng Chen1
1Key Laboratory of Neuroregeneration of Jiangsu and Ministry of Education, NMPA Key Laboratory for Research and Evaluation of Tissue Engineering Technology Products, Jiangsu Clinical Medicine Center of Tissue Engineering and Nerve Injury Repair, Co-Innovation Center of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, 19 Qixiu Road, Nantong, 226001, Jiangsu, China.
Abstract:
Glial cells, including astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and microglia, are the major components in the central nervous system (CNS). Studies have revealed the heterogeneity of each glial cell type and that they each may play distinct roles in physiological processes and/or neurological diseases. Single-cell sequencing (scRNA-seq) technology developed in recent years has extended our understanding of glial cell heterogeneity from the perspective of transcriptome profiling. This review summarizes the marker genes of major glial cells in the CNS and reveals their heterogeneity in different species, CNS regions, developmental stages, and pathological states (Alzheimer's disease and spinal cord injury), expanding our knowledge of glial cell heterogeneity on both molecular and functional levels.
