A 3D transcriptomics atlas of the mouse nose sheds light on the anatomical logic of smell
Mayra L. Ruiz Tejada Segura,
Eman Abou Moussa,
Elisa Garabello,
Thiago S. Nakahara,
Melanie Makhlouf,
Lisa S. Mathew,
Li Wang,
Filippo Valle,
Susie S.Y. Huang,
Joel D. Mainland,
Michele Caselle,
Matteo Osella,
Stephan Lorenz,
Johannes Reisert,
Darren W. Logan,
Bettina Malnic,
Antonio Scialdone,
Luis R. Saraiva
Affiliations
Mayra L. Ruiz Tejada Segura
Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Feodor-Lynen-Strasse 21, 81377 München, Germany; Institute of Functional Epigenetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany
Eman Abou Moussa
Sidra Medicine, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
Elisa Garabello
Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Feodor-Lynen-Strasse 21, 81377 München, Germany; Physics Department, University of Turin and INFN, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Turin, Italy; Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, USA
Thiago S. Nakahara
Department of Biochemistry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Melanie Makhlouf
Sidra Medicine, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
Lisa S. Mathew
Sidra Medicine, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
Li Wang
Sidra Medicine, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
Filippo Valle
Physics Department, University of Turin and INFN, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Turin, Italy
Susie S.Y. Huang
Sidra Medicine, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar
Joel D. Mainland
Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; Department of Neuroscience, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Michele Caselle
Physics Department, University of Turin and INFN, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Turin, Italy
Matteo Osella
Physics Department, University of Turin and INFN, Via P. Giuria 1, 10125 Turin, Italy
Stephan Lorenz
Sidra Medicine, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar; Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK
Johannes Reisert
Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA
Darren W. Logan
Wellcome Sanger Institute, Wellcome Genome Campus, Hinxton, Cambridge CB10 1SD, UK
Bettina Malnic
Department of Biochemistry, University of São Paulo, São Paulo, Brazil
Antonio Scialdone
Institute of Epigenetics and Stem Cells, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Feodor-Lynen-Strasse 21, 81377 München, Germany; Institute of Functional Epigenetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Ingolstädter Landstraße 1, 85764 Neuherberg, Germany; Corresponding author
Luis R. Saraiva
Sidra Medicine, P.O. Box 26999, Doha, Qatar; Monell Chemical Senses Center, 3500 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104, USA; College of Health and Life Sciences, Hamad Bin Khalifa University, P.O. Box 34110, Doha, Qatar; Corresponding author
Summary: The sense of smell helps us navigate the environment, but its molecular architecture and underlying logic remain understudied. The spatial location of odorant receptor genes (Olfrs) in the nose is thought to be independent of the structural diversity of the odorants they detect. Using spatial transcriptomics, we create a genome-wide 3D atlas of the mouse olfactory mucosa (OM). Topographic maps of genes differentially expressed in space reveal that both Olfrs and non-Olfrs are distributed in a continuous and overlapping fashion over at least five broad zones in the OM. The spatial locations of Olfrs correlate with the mucus solubility of the odorants they recognize, providing direct evidence for the chromatographic theory of olfaction. This resource resolves the molecular architecture of the mouse OM and will inform future studies on mechanisms underlying Olfr gene choice, axonal pathfinding, patterning of the nervous system, and basic logic for the peripheral representation of smell.
