Sara Linker's Biography

Sara Linker, Staff Scientist, Lab of Fred H. Gage, Laboratory of Genetics, The Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Sara Linker received her Ph.D. from the Hussman Institute for Human Genomics at the University of Miami in 2014 where she studied the impact of mobile element insertions on the human genome. She then joined the lab of Dr. Fred H. Gage at the Salk Institute as a postdoctoral fellow in 2014 and began working on multiple projects including examining activity-induced expression in hippocampal nuclei using single-nucleus RNA-sequencing. She is currently interested in using single-nucleus methods to explore the endogenous heterogeneity between neurons, at both the level of RNA and DNA, and how that heterogeneity impacts broader behavioral phenotypes.

Identifying a Predictive Signature of Neuronal Reactivity in Single Hippocampal Nuclei

Wednesday, 3 October 2018 at 11:30

Add to Calendar ▼2018-10-02 00:00:002018-10-02 01:00:00Europe/LondonTitle to be Confirmed.Single Cell Analysis Summit 2018 in Coronado Island, CaliforniaCoronado Island, CaliforniaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

Activity-induced remodeling of neuronal circuits is critical for memory formation. This process relies in part on transcription, but neither the rate of activity nor baseline transcription is equal across neuronal cell types. In this study, we isolated mouse hippocampal populations with different activity levels and used single nucleus RNA-seq to compare their transcriptional responses to activation. We found that 1 hr after novel environment exposure sparsely active dentate granule (DG) neurons had a much stronger transcriptional response compared to more highly active CA1 pyramidal cells and vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) interneurons. Activity continued to impact transcription in DG neurons up to 5 hr, with increased heterogeneity. By re-exposing the mice to the same environment, we identified a unique transcriptional signature that selects DG neurons for reactivation upon re-exposure to the same environment. These results link transcriptional heterogeneity to functional heterogeneity and identify a transcriptional correlate of memory encoding in individual DG neurons.

Add to Calendar ▼2018-10-02 00:00:002018-10-03 00:00:00Europe/LondonSingle Cell Analysis Summit 2018Single Cell Analysis Summit 2018 in Coronado Island, CaliforniaCoronado Island, CaliforniaSELECTBIOenquiries@selectbiosciences.com

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