Towards mapping spatial transcriptome of an entire vertebrate brain
Name
zhang-ruihan-SM-MAS-2021-thesis.pdf
Description
Thesis PDF
Size
13.06 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
b235c8cbdf4e5a83ac7c457225f95b12
Author(s)
Zhang, Ruihan
Advisor(s)
Jacobson, Joseph M.
Date Issued
June 2021
Publisher
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Abstract
Both the brain’s substantial complexity and technical challenges in monitoring and manipulating brains present challenges for understanding this essential organ. Zebrafish, for their modest brain size and transparency in the larval stage, serve as a model organism for whole-brain in vivo imaging and modeling. While calcium imaging generates substantial amounts of neural activity data, the lack of molecular information for individual neurons in a purely activity readout approach limits further biological interpretation. Recent advancements in in situ sequencing allow RNA profiling in its spatial context, which provides rich information on cell types and cell states. In this thesis, we adapted the expansion in situ sequencing(ExSeq) protocol for larval zebrafish brain slices. In brief, performing two rounds of expansion on zebrafish brain slices enabled us to obtain spatially localized sequencing readouts. This lays the foundation for mapping the spatial transcriptome of an entire vertebrate brain.
MIT Department
Program in Media Arts and Sciences (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
Terms of Use
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted
Copyright MIT
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