Researchers further refine the organization of cells within key regions of the mouse brain and the organization of transcriptomic, epigenomic and regulatory factors that provide these brain cells with function and purpose.

In recent years, however, transformative advances in imaging, sequencing and computational technologies have opened the possibility of mapping a human brain truly at the resolution of its molecular and cellular components. While that ultimate goal remains to be achieved, researchers have steadily progressed with a smaller, but no less momentous, effort: an atlas of the mouse brain.

In a special issue of Nature, publishing online October 7, 2021, researchers at the University of California San Diego, with colleagues across the country, describe their progress in collection of papers. Two of the papers, in which UC San Diego scientists served as senior authors, further refine the organization of cells within key regions of the mouse brain and, more critically, the organization of transcriptomic, epigenomic and regulatory factors and elements that provide these brain cells with function and purpose.

«To truly understand how the brain functions, and from that knowledge develop new drugs and therapies to improve human lives and health, we need to see and quantify brain structure, organization and function down to the level of single cells,» said Bing Ren, PhD, director of the Center for Epigenomics, professor of cellular and molecular medicine at UC San Diego School of Medicine and member of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at UC San Diego.

«Depth and specificity are essential,» agreed Eran A. Mukamel, PhD, director of the Computational Neural DNA Dynamics Lab and associate professor in the Department of Cognitive Science at UC San Diego. «We want a comprehensive parts list for the brain, including not just the locations and connections of the neurons, but also the molecular and epigenetic fingerprints that give them their specialized identity.»

Gene regulatory elements

Since 2006, there has been a concerted, international effort to create a three-dimensional atlas of the mouse brain, which is roughly the size of a pea and comprised of approximately eight to 14 million neurons and glial cells. Though the mouse brain is not a miniature version of the human brain, it has proven to be a powerful model for studying many human brain functions, diseases and mental disorders, in part because the genes responsible for building and operating both human and rodent organs are 90 percent identical.

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Materials provided by University of California — San Diego. Original written by Scott LaFee. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.