Pulse Brain · Growing Health Evidence Index
Tier 3 — Observational / field trialPeer-reviewed

Brain-wide cell-type-specific transcriptomic signatures of healthy ageing in mice

Kelly Jin; Zizhen Yao; Cindy T. J. van Velthoven; Eitan S Kaplan; Katie Glattfelder; Samuel T. Barlow; Gabriella Boyer; Daniel Carey; Tamara Casper; Anish Bhaswanth Chakka; Rushil Chakrabarty; Michael Clark; Max Departee; Marie J. Desierto; Amanda Gary; Jessica Gloe; Jeff Goldy; Nathan Guilford; Junitta Guzman; Daniel Hirschstein; Changkyu Lee; Elizabeth Liang; Trangthanh Pham; Melissa Reding; Kara Ronellenfitch; Augustin Ruiz; Joshua P Sevigny; Nadiya V. Shapovalova; Lyudmila Shulga; Josef Šulc; Amy Torkelson; Herman Tung; Boaz P. Levi; Susan M. Sunkin; Nick Dee; Luke Esposito; Kimberly A. Smith; Bosiljka Tasic; Hongkui Zeng

Nature · 2025

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Summary

This large-scale study, published in Nature in 2025 by researchers from the Allen Institute and collaborating institutions, maps transcriptomic changes associated with healthy ageing across diverse cell types throughout the mouse brain. Using high-resolution single-cell or single-nucleus RNA sequencing, the work characterises how gene expression shifts with age in a cell-type- and region-specific manner, providing a reference atlas of molecular ageing signatures. The findings likely offer insights into the cellular mechanisms underlying brain ageing and may inform understanding of neurodegenerative disease susceptibility.

UK applicability

This study was conducted in mice in the United States and does not directly address UK-specific conditions or policy; however, its findings on the molecular biology of brain ageing are broadly applicable to international neuroscience and ageing research, including UK efforts to understand dementia and healthy cognitive ageing.

Key measures

Single-cell or single-nucleus RNA sequencing data; differentially expressed genes per cell type; brain region-specific transcriptomic signatures; cell-type composition changes with age

Outcomes reported

The study characterised cell-type-specific gene expression changes across the whole brain during healthy ageing in mice, identifying transcriptomic signatures associated with neuronal and non-neuronal cell types. It likely reported differentially expressed genes and pathways linked to ageing across multiple brain regions and cell classes.

Theme
Nutrition & health
Subject
Neuroscience & cognitive ageing
Study type
Research
Study design
Observational cohort
Source type
Peer-reviewed study
Status
Published
Geography
United States
System type
Human clinical
DOI
10.1038/s41586-024-08350-8
Catalogue ID
NRmo3f02hq-0c0

Topic tags

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