Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Transcriptional Heterogeneity Reveals a Synaptic Gene Program in Developing and Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.01.697017

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Human embryonic (PCW 17) OPCs were isolated based on PDGFRα immunoreactivity (see Methods) and subjected to scRNA-seq. Graph clustering based on transcriptomic similarity revealed four OPC clusters ( e mbryonic clusters 1-4) in UMAP space. (B) Cells showed robust expression of OLIG2 and PDGFRα , confirming OPC identity. (C) Mature oligodendrocyte markers MAG or MOG were low. (D) Heatmap representation of a unique and largely non-overlapping gene expression signatures for each OPC cluster. (E-H) Top seven pathways identified by Gene Ontology (GO) analysis of differentially expressed ( P < 0.01) genes in each OPC cluster.

Article Snippet: To isolate eSyn-OPCs, PDGFRα + OPCs were passed on to a dish coated with GRB14 antibody (Proteintech, 15298-1-AP) for 20min at 37C.

Techniques: Isolation, Expressing, Gene Expression

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Transcriptional Heterogeneity Reveals a Synaptic Gene Program in Developing and Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.01.697017

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) (Top left) Graph clustering of eSyn-OPCs in UMAP space from the PCW 17 brain, highlighted in red. (B) eSyn-OPCs express known synaptic development genes, including THBS2, PLAT, WNT5A, WNT7A, and ACHE .

Article Snippet: To isolate eSyn-OPCs, PDGFRα + OPCs were passed on to a dish coated with GRB14 antibody (Proteintech, 15298-1-AP) for 20min at 37C.

Techniques:

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Transcriptional Heterogeneity Reveals a Synaptic Gene Program in Developing and Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.01.697017

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) A representative cortical section with DAPI staining from a PCW 22 brain. (B) Immunohistochemistry for eSyn-OPCs using the eSyn-OPC marker HAPLN1 and colocalizing with PDGFRα. Scale bar unit = um. (C) Quantification of HAPLN1 + /PDGFRα + eSyn-OPCs revealed that the appearance of eSyn-OPCs occurs after PCW 12, and the majority of eSyn-OPCs are found in layers IZ, oSVZ, iSVZ, and VZ. (D) Visium spatial transcriptomics from a PCW 15 sample. (E) K-means clustering of 1,880 spots from (D) identified five distinct layers in UMAP space. (F) Quantification of MT1E + eSyn-OPC spots in the five cortical layers found in (E). (G) Quantification of PDGFRα + OPC spots in the five cortical layers found in (E). (H) The mRNA levels of neural progenitor ( EOMES ) and neural stem cell ( SOX2, ID4 ) markers in the MT1E + spots (containing eSyn-OPCs) compared to PDGFR α + / MT1E - spots (containing OPCs but not eSyn-OPCs). (I) Immunohistochemistry confirmed proximity of eSyn-OPCs and SOX2 + neural stem cells in PCW 22 cortical tissue. Scale bar unit = um.

Article Snippet: To isolate eSyn-OPCs, PDGFRα + OPCs were passed on to a dish coated with GRB14 antibody (Proteintech, 15298-1-AP) for 20min at 37C.

Techniques: Staining, Immunohistochemistry, Marker

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Transcriptional Heterogeneity Reveals a Synaptic Gene Program in Developing and Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.01.697017

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Identification of OPCs in the UMAP plot of brain cells obtained from a healthy 29-year-old male (from Siletti et al.). OPCs were defined by co-expression of marker genes PDGFRA and OLIG2 , and mature oligodendrocytes were defined by co-expression of marker genes MAG , MOG , and MBP . (B) Re-clustering of the OPC cluster found in (A) based on differentially expressed genes identified four OPC clusters ( a dult clusters 1-4). (C-F) Top seven pathways identified by GO analysis of differentially expressed genes in each OPC cluster from (B). aCluster 4 was identified as aSyn-OPCs.

Article Snippet: To isolate eSyn-OPCs, PDGFRα + OPCs were passed on to a dish coated with GRB14 antibody (Proteintech, 15298-1-AP) for 20min at 37C.

Techniques: Expressing, Marker

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Transcriptional Heterogeneity Reveals a Synaptic Gene Program in Developing and Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.01.697017

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) A simulated null distribution of gene-set overlaps between eSyn-OPCs and randomly sampled gene sets of the same size expressed in the brain ( n = 10,000). Adult Syn-OPCs (aSyn-OPCs) showed a significant overlap (z = 3.04, p = 0.0011) with eSyn-OPCs, indicating genetic similarity between the two populations. (B) Among synapse-related genes, eSyn-OPCs showed a greater abundance of genes regulating synapse structure compared to aSyn-OPCs. (C) SynGO, a synaptic gene analysis tool, showed that eSyn-OPCs expressed more genes encoding postsynaptic proteins compared to aSyn-OPCs. (D-F) The mRNA levels of postsynaptic neurotransmitter receptor subunit genes for glutamate, GABA, and acetylcholine in eSyn-OPCs compared with other embryonic OPC clusters.

Article Snippet: To isolate eSyn-OPCs, PDGFRα + OPCs were passed on to a dish coated with GRB14 antibody (Proteintech, 15298-1-AP) for 20min at 37C.

Techniques:

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Transcriptional Heterogeneity Reveals a Synaptic Gene Program in Developing and Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.01.697017

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Identification of OPCs in the UMAP plot of brain cells obtained from a healthy 42-year-old male. OPCs were defined by co-expression of marker genes PDGFRA and OLIG2 , and mature oligodendrocytes were defined by co-expression of marker genes MAG , MOG , and MBP . (B) Re-clustering of the OPC cluster found in (A) based on differentially expressed genes. (C-F) Top pathways identified by GO analysis of differentially expressed genes in each OPC cluster from (B). A dult Cluster 4 (aC4) was identified as aSyn-OPCs.

Article Snippet: To isolate eSyn-OPCs, PDGFRα + OPCs were passed on to a dish coated with GRB14 antibody (Proteintech, 15298-1-AP) for 20min at 37C.

Techniques: Expressing, Marker

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Transcriptional Heterogeneity Reveals a Synaptic Gene Program in Developing and Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.01.697017

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) An independent dataset from Schirmer et al. was used to identify OPCs from the single-nucleus RNA sequencing of cortical brain cells obtained from 6 healthy individuals of various ages (34 - 68 years old). OPCs were defined by co-expression of marker genes PDGFRA and OLIG2 , and mature oligodendrocytes were defined by co-expression of marker genes MAG , MOG , and MBP . (B) Re-clustering of the OPC cluster found in (A) based on differentially expressed genes. (C) Top seven pathways identified by GO analysis of differentially expressed genes in A dult Cluster 4 (aC4), identified as aSyn-OPCs.

Article Snippet: To isolate eSyn-OPCs, PDGFRα + OPCs were passed on to a dish coated with GRB14 antibody (Proteintech, 15298-1-AP) for 20min at 37C.

Techniques: RNA Sequencing, Expressing, Marker

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Transcriptional Heterogeneity Reveals a Synaptic Gene Program in Developing and Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.01.697017

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) A representative image of a cortical section obtained from a PCW 22 sample. The location of the oSVZ region is indicated. (B) Immunohistochemistry with candidate eSyn-OPC markers. Images were taken from adjascent sections in the oSVZ region indicated in (A). Scale bar unit = um. (C) Corresponding mRNA expression levels of candidate markers used in the immunohistochemistry shown in (B). (D) A spatial transcriptomic sample from PCW 8 tissue. Negligible MT1E + spots (8 spot; 0.7%) were found despite the abundant PDGFRα + spots. (E) A spatial transcriptomic sample from PCW 19 tissue. (F) MT1E + spots were enriched in lower cortical layers whereas PDGFRα + spots were found across cortical layers. (G) The mRNA levels of neural progenitor ( EOMES ) and neural stem cell ( SOX2, ID4 ) markers in the MT1E + spots (containing eSyn-OPCs) compared to PDGFR α + / MT1E - spots (containing OPCs but not eSyn-OPCs) in PCW 19 sample.

Article Snippet: To isolate eSyn-OPCs, PDGFRα + OPCs were passed on to a dish coated with GRB14 antibody (Proteintech, 15298-1-AP) for 20min at 37C.

Techniques: Immunohistochemistry, Expressing

Journal: bioRxiv

Article Title: Transcriptional Heterogeneity Reveals a Synaptic Gene Program in Developing and Adult Human Oligodendrocyte Precursor Cells

doi: 10.64898/2026.01.01.697017

Figure Lengend Snippet: (A) Enrichment in cell surface marker genes in eSyn-OPCs compared to non-Syn-OPCs. GRB14 was identified as a unique marker. (B) A schematic illustrating the isolation of eSyn-OPCs based on double positivity for GRB14 and PDGFRα antibodies. (C) The isolated eSyn-OPCs are GRB14 + /PDGFRα + /OLIG2 + . Scale bar unit = um. (D) When isolated eSyn-OPCs were induced to differentiate with differentiation medium lacking growth factors, eSyn-OPCs differentiated into O4 + /MBP + /PLP1 + mature oligodendrocytes. Scale bar unit = um.

Article Snippet: To isolate eSyn-OPCs, PDGFRα + OPCs were passed on to a dish coated with GRB14 antibody (Proteintech, 15298-1-AP) for 20min at 37C.

Techniques: Marker, Isolation

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: TMEM120A maintains adipose tissue lipid homeostasis through ER CoA channeling

doi: 10.1038/s41467-025-67870-7

Figure Lengend Snippet: A mRNA levels of Tmem120a in various tissues. n = 3. B , C Protein expression of TMEM120A in various tissues. n = 4. D , E UMAP plot of total 18,542 nuclei isolated from gWAT of WT and Tmem120a AKO mice fed an NCD. Red color indicates higher expression levels, whereas grey color indicates lower expression levels. (Two replicates for the WT condition and one replicate for the Tmem120a AKO condition). Clusters are colored by cell types: Adipocyte, mesothelial cell (MC), lymphatic endothelial cell (LEC), vascular endothelial cell (VEC), adipocyte progenitor cell (APC), smooth muscle cell (SMC), macrophages, B cell and T cell. F mRNA levels of Tmem120a in floating adipocytes and F4/80 + macrophages and PDGFRα + progenitor cells from SVF isolated from iWAT and gWAT. n = 3. G Single-nucleus RNA analysis of adipocytes, APC, Trem2 + macrophages from gWAT of mice fed an NCD or HFD for 12 weeks (SRP426501). H Analysis of Tmem120a expression in gWAT of mice fed an NCD or HFD for 8 weeks, determined by publicly available transcriptomic data ( GSE182930 ). n = 3. I mRNA levels of Tmem120a in BAT, iWAT, and gWAT of WT mice fed an NCD or HFD for 8 weeks. n = 10. J Expression of TMEM120A across different cell types in human white adipose tissue, based on the public dataset GSE176171 . Adipose-derived stromal/stem progenitor cell (ASPC). mRNA levels ( K ) and correlation analysis ( L ) of TMEM120A gene expression in human subcutaneous adipose tissue of normal (BMI < 22 kg/m 2 ) and obese (BMI > 26 kg/m 2 ) patients. n = 12. M Pearson correlation between BMI and average TMEM120A expression in human adipocytes ( GSE176171 ). Each point represents an individual sample. The black dashed line indicates the linear regression fit, and the shaded area represents the 95% confidence interval. N Analysis of TMEM120A expression in human adipose tissue ((MHL): n = 14; (MHO): n = 25; (MUO): n = 27), determined by publicly available transcriptomic data ( GSE156906 ). Data are presented as mean values ± SEM. Each point represents a biological replicate. p values were determined by an unpaired two-sided Student’s t-test ( A, C , F – I , K , N ), or two-tailed Pearson correlation ( L , M ).

Article Snippet: The remaining F4/80 - cells were subjected to PDGFRα selection using a PDGFRα MicroBead kit (Miltenyi Biotec, cat#130-101-502).

Techniques: Expressing, Isolation, Derivative Assay, Gene Expression, Two Tailed Test