Single-cell transcriptome analysis of secretagogin mRNA expressing cells from the mouse hypothalamic paraventricular nucleus. Mus musculus

The molecular mechanism regulating phasic corticotropin-releasing hormone (CRH) release from parvocellular neurons (PVN) remains poorly understood. Here, we find a cohort of parvocellular cells interspersed with magnocellular PVN neurons expressing secretagogin. Single-cell transcriptome analysis combined with protein interactome profiling identifies secretagogin neurons as a distinct CRH-releasing neuron population reliant on secretagogin’s Ca2+ sensor properties and protein interactions with the vesicular traffic and exocytosis release machineries to liberate this key hypothalamic releasing hormone. Overall design: single cells from the PVN region juvenile (21-28 days) mice were dissected and subject to whole transcriptome analysis