Identification of Lipid Heterogeneity and Diversity in the Developing Human Brain

The lipidome is currently
understudied but fundamental to life.
Within the brain, little is known about cell-type lipid heterogeneity,
and even less is known about cell-to-cell lipid diversity because
it is difficult to study the lipids within individual cells. Here,
we used single-cell mass spectrometry-based protocols to profile the
lipidomes of 154 910 single cells across ten individuals consisting
of five developmental ages and five brain regions, resulting in a
unique lipid atlas available via a web browser of the developing human
brain. From these data, we identify differentially expressed lipids
across brain structures, cortical areas, and developmental ages. We
inferred lipid profiles of several major cell types from this data
set and additionally detected putative cell-type specific lipids.
This data set will enable further interrogation of the developing
human brain lipidome.