Spatial transcriptomic profiling uncovers the molecular effects of the neurotoxicant polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) in the brains of adult mice

Utilizing spatial transcripomics approach (10x Genomics Visium v2), this study assess the molecular effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) on the brain. To investigate the effects of polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB) on memory and transcriptomic profiles, we exposed adult male C57BL/6J mice daily to a synthetic PCB mixture. After seven weeks of exposure, the mice were assessed in a spatial object recognition task (SOR) to evaluate long-term spatial memory. Brain sections from PCB and vehicle-exposed male mice, collected one hour after the memory test session, were processed for spatial transcriptomic analyses using the Visium platform.