Redefining the heterogeneity of peripheral nerve cells in health and autoimmunity.
Peripheral nerves contain axons and their enwrapping glia cells named Schwann cells (SCs) that are either myelinating (mySCs) or nonmyelinating (nmSCs). Our understanding of other cells in the peripheral nervous system (PNS) remains limited. Here, we provide an unbiased single cell transcriptomic characterization of the nondiseased rodent PNS. We identified and independently confirmed markers of previously underappreciated nmSCs and nerve-associated fibroblasts. We also found and characterized two distinct populations of nerve-resident homeostatic myeloid cells that transcriptionally differed from central nervous system microglia. In a model of chronic autoimmune neuritis, homeostatic myeloid cells were outnumbered by infiltrating lymphocytes which modulated the local cell-cell interactome and induced a specific transcriptional response in glia cells. This response was partially shared between the peripheral and central nervous system glia, indicating common immunological features across different parts of the nervous system. Our study thus identifies subtypes and cell-type markers of PNS cells and a partially conserved autoimmunity module induced in glia cells.
['Wolbert|Jolien|J|', 'Li|Xiaolin|X|', 'Heming|Michael|M|0000-0002-9568-2790', 'Mausberg|Anne K|AK|', 'Akkermann|Dagmar|D|', 'Frydrychowicz|Clara|C|', 'Fledrich|Robert|R|0000-0001-5323-7958', 'Groeneweg|Linda|L|', 'Schulz|Christian|C|', 'Stettner|Mark|M|', 'Alonso Gonzalez|Noelia|N|0000-0003-0533-5216', 'Wiendl|Heinz|H|', 'Stassart|Ruth|R|', 'Meyer Zu Hörste|Gerd|G|']
D000818:Animals D001327:Autoimmune Diseases D015415:Biomarkers D002450:Cell Communication D019070:Cell Lineage D005786:Gene Expression Regulation D006706:Homeostasis D006801:Humans D007962:Leukocytes D008264:Macrophages D051379:Mice D009474:Neurons D010525:Peripheral Nerves D051381:Rats
Schwann cell peripheral nervous system transcriptomics single cell RNA-seq