SCAMPR, a single-cell automated multiplex pipeline for RNA quantification and spatial mapping.

Spatial gene expression, achieved classically through hybridization, is a fundamental tool for topographic phenotyping of cell types in the nervous system. Newly developed techniques allow for visualization of multiple mRNAs at single-cell resolution and greatly expand the ability to link gene expression to tissue topography, yet there are challenges in efficient quantification and analysis of these high-dimensional datasets. We have therefore developed the single-cell automated multiplex pipeline for RNA (SCAMPR), facilitating rapid and accurate segmentation of neuronal cell bodies using a dual immunohistochemistry-RNAscope protocol and quantification of low- and high-abundance mRNA signals using open-source image processing and automated segmentation tools.

MET Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Regulates Lifespan Ultrasonic Vocalization and Vagal Motor Neuron Development.

The intrinsic muscles of the larynx are innervated by the vagal motor nucleus ambiguus (nAmb), which provides direct motor control over vocal production in humans and rodents. Here, we demonstrate in mice using the line, that conditional embryonic deletion of the gene encoding the MET receptor tyrosine kinase (MET) in the developing brainstem (cKO) results in highly penetrant, severe deficits in ultrasonic vocalization in early postnatal life. Major deficits and abnormal vocalization patterns persist into adulthood in more than 70% of mice, with the remaining recovering the ability to vocalize, reflecting heterogeneity in circuit restitution.

Deletion of and in mouse BLA projection neurons alters intrinsic excitability and impairs formation of long-term aversive memory.

Conditioned taste aversion (CTA) is a form of one-trial learning dependent on basolateral amygdala projection neurons (BLApn). Its underlying cellular and molecular mechanisms remain poorly understood. RNAseq from BLApn identified changes in multiple candidate learning-related transcripts including the expected immediate early gene and , a master kinase of the AMP-related kinase pathway with important roles in growth, metabolism and development, but not previously implicated in learning.