Single cell RNA sequencing of lateral and medial olivocochlear efferent neurons using PatchSeq

Olivocochlear (OC) efferent neurons are the final component of the
descending auditory system. The lateral olivocochlear (LOC) neurons
innervate type I spiral ganglion neurons (SGN). Their role in hearing is
unknown, but they may have roles in protection from noise trauma or
changing the threshold of SGN activation. The medial olivocochlear (MOC)
efferent neurons innervate outer hair cells (OHC), inhibiting OHC function
and thus dampening cochlear vibrations. LOC and MOC function is poorly
understood at the single cell level, but recent use of transgenic mice
(ChAT-IRES-Cre; tdTomato) expressing fluorescent reporters in cholinergic
neurons, including LOC and MOC neurons, has allowed patch-clamp recordings
from the neurons in mouse brainstem slices to begin to characterize their
intrinsic electrical properties and synaptic activity. Recent single
nucleus sequencing experiments from LOC and MOC neurons has given insight
into the genetic programs that generate their function, including changes
to expression profiles following noise trauma. Here we utilize the
PatchSeq technique to combine patch-clamp electrophysiological recordings
with deep single-cell transcriptome analysis from identified LOC and MOC
neurons in transgenic ChAT-IRES-Cre; tdTomato mice. In this preliminary
dataset, we generated patch-clamp electrophysiology data and single cell
transcriptome data from 18 identified LOC and 13 identified MOC
neurons.