Defining specific cell states of MPTP-induced Parkinson’s disease by single-nucleus RNA sequencing

Parkinson’s disease (PD), a neurodegenerative disease with the impairment of movement execution that is related to age, genetic and environmental factors. 1-methyl-4-phenyl-1,2,3,6-tetrahydropyri-dine (MPTP) is a neurotoxin widely used to induce PD models, but the effect of MPTP on cell-gene of PD has not been fully elucidated. By single-nucleus RNA sequencing, we uncovered the PD-specific cells and revealed remarkable changes in their cellular states, including astrocytosis, endothelial cells absence, as well as a cluster of PD-exclusive medium spiny neuron cells. Furthermore, trajectory analysis of astrocyte and endothelial cells populations predicted candidate target gene sets that might be associated with PD. Notably, the detailed regulatory roles of astrocyte-specific transcription factors Dbx2 and Sox13 in PD were first revealed in our work. Finally, we characterized the cell-cell communications of PD-specific cells and found that the overall communication strength was enhanced in PD compared with matched control, especially the signaling pathways of NRXN and NEGR. Our work provides comprehensive overview on the changes of cellular states of the MPTP-induced mouse brain.