Shared inflammatory glial cell signature after brain injury, revealed by spatial, temporal and cell-type-specific profiling of the murine cerebral cortex

Abstract

Traumatic brain injury leads to a highly orchestrated immune- and glial cell response partially responsible for long-lasting disability and the development of secondary neurodegenerative diseases. A holistic understanding of the mechanisms controlling the responses of specific cell types and their crosstalk is required to develop an efficient strategy for better regeneration. Here, we combined spatial and single-cell transcriptomics to chart the transcriptomic signature of the injured murine cerebral cortex, and identified specific states of astrocytes, microglia, and oligodendrocyte precursor cells contributing to this signature. Interestingly, these cellular populations share a large fraction of injury-regulated genes, including inflammatory programs downstream of the innate immune-associated pathways Cxcr3 and Tlr1/2. Systemic manipulation of these pathways decreased the reactivity state of glial cells associated with poor regeneration. The functional relevance of the newly discovered shared signature of glial cells highlights the importance of our resource enabling comprehensive analysis of early events after brain injury.