New opportunities for primate cellular neuroscience in the era of single cell genomics

Join the UCI Center for Neural Circuit Mapping for a hybrid seminar with Dr. Jonathan Ting from the Allen Institute for Brain Science.

Abstract:

How many cell types exist in the brain and what are their unique functional properties?  Single cell transcriptomics provides a means to define discrete cell classes, subclasses and types on the basis of gene expression signatures.  This approach has revolutionized neuroscience by providing foundational cell type taxonomies with unprecedented resolution and has led to the identification of previously unknown brain cell types.  In addition, analytical tools enable precise alignment across diverse cell type taxonomies, for example, mapping of cell type homologies across species.  Such approaches will no doubt deepen our understanding of the evolution of brain cell types.  As a direct outcome of this progress, a new challenge for the neuroscience field is to explore the unique cellular properties of these myriad brain cell types, and to experimentally address whether transcriptomically distinct cell types serve functionally distinct roles in brain circuits.  Towards this aspirational goal, how can we leverage the richness of single cell transcriptomics and epigenomics to target and manipulate this overwhelming diversity of brain cell types and across widely utilized mammalian model organisms?  In this talk I will describe the various projects and strategies my colleagues and I have developed at the Allen Institute to address these outstanding challenges, with particular attention to creating new opportunities for primate cellular neuroscience.  I will focus on our published and unpublished biological discoveries coming from Patch-seq experiments exploring signature electrophysiological and morphological properties of transcripomically-identified primate neocortical cell types, as well as the early implementation of first-in-class viral genetic tools for targeting brain cell types.

For those registering for in-person there is a 22 max capacity. In addition, to receiving your zoom virtual registration link, you will receive a separate email reminder that you registered for the in-person.