Enteric glia express proteolipid protein 1 and are a transcriptionally unique population of glia in the mammalian nervous system. Mus musculus

To identify the gene expression profile of enteric glia and assess the transcriptional similarity between enteric and extraenteric glia, we performed RNA sequencing analysis on PLP1-expressing cells in the mouse intestine. This analysis shows that enteric glia are transcriptionally unique and distinct from other cell types in the nervous system. Enteric glia express many genes characteristic of the myelinating glia, Schwann cells and oli- godendrocytes, although there is no evidence of myelination in the murine ENS. Overall design: Total RNA expression profiles of PLP1 expressing enteric glial cells (GFP+) and non-glial cells (GFP-negative) were obtained from the ileum and colon of juvenile PLP1-eGFP transgenic mice.