Role of Caveolin 1 in metabolic programming of fetal brain

Caveolae are plasma membrane invaginations found in most cells of mammals. Caveolin-1 (Cav1) encodes a major protein of the lipid rafts of these membrane structures. Cav1-null mice, though viable, show various phenotypic defects. At an early adult age, these mice show brain aging that resemble brain of one and half year old wildtype mice, and exhibit symptoms that are hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease. It is not known if the ablation of Cav1 in these mice impacts the brain at the fetal stage that then influences brain function later in life. Single nuclei RNA sequencing was performed with fetal brain of wildtype and Cav1 knockout mice. Results showed that specific metabolism genes were differentially expressed between different glial cells. Single nuclei RNA sequencing was performed with fetal brain of wildtype and Cav1 knockout mice by 10X Genomics.细胞质膜微囊（Caveolae）是多数哺乳动物细胞中存在的质膜内陷结构。小窝蛋白-1（Caveolin-1，简称Cav1）基因可编码这类膜结构脂筏（lipid rafts）的主要组成蛋白。尽管Cav1基因敲除小鼠（Cav1-null mice）可正常存活，但会表现出多种表型缺陷。在成年早期，这类小鼠会出现类似1.5岁野生型小鼠的脑衰老特征，并展现出阿尔茨海默病（Alzheimer's disease）的典型标志性症状。目前尚不明确，这类小鼠中Cav1的基因敲除是否会在胎儿阶段即对大脑造成影响，进而在后续生命进程中影响脑功能。研究人员对野生型与Cav1基因敲除小鼠的胎儿脑组织开展了单细胞核RNA测序（Single nuclei RNA sequencing）。结果显示，不同胶质细胞间的特定代谢基因存在差异表达。本次单细胞核RNA测序实验由10X基因组学（10X Genomics）提供技术支持。