Molecular and spatial profiling of the paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus

Abstract

The paraventricular nucleus of the thalamus (PVT) is known to regulate various cognitive and behavioral processes. However, while functional diversity among PVT circuits has often been linked to cellular differences, the molecular identity and spatial distribution of PVT cell types remains unclear. To address this gap, here we used single nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq) and identified five molecularly distinct PVT neuronal subtypes. Additionally, multiplex fluorescent in situ hybridization of top marker genes revealed that PVT subtypes are organized by a combination of previously unidentified molecular gradients. Lastly, comparing our dataset with a recently published single-cell sequencing atlas of thalamus yielded novel insight into the PVTs connectivity with cortex, including unexpected innervation of auditory and visual areas. This comparison also revealed that our data contains a largely non-overlapping transcriptomic map of multiple midline thalamic nuclei. Collectively, our findings uncover previously unknown features of the molecular diversity and anatomical organization of the PVT and provide a valuable resource for future investigations.