The BICCN Human Brain Cell Atlas is a landmark initiative to create a comprehensive molecular census of cell types in the human brain. Part of the NIH's Brain Initiative, this project provides unprecedented single-cell resolution of neuronal and non-neuronal cell populations across brain regions, enabling detailed understanding of cell-type-specific vulnerabilities in neurodegenerative diseases.
The Brain Initiative Cell Census Network (BICCN) was established to:[1]
Building on mouse brain cell census work, the Human Brain Cell Atlas provides:[2]
Single-cell RNA sequencing provides gene expression profiles for:[3]
Chromatin accessibility profiles reveal:[4]
Spatial methods provide cellular resolution of:[5]
Brain tissue is collected from:[5:1]
Over 200 distinct cell types have been identified in the human brain, including:[3:1]
Single-cell analysis reveals altered gene expression in aging brain:[6]
Chromatin accessibility shifts with age:[7]
Cell-type-specific vulnerabilities in disease:[8]
The atlas enables:[5:2]
Single-cell resolution supports:
Cell atlases reveal:
Data are freely available:[2:1]
BICCN Consortium. A multimodal cell atlas and census of cell types in the mouse brain. Nature. 2020. ↩︎
Allen Institute. Human Brain Cell Atlas documentation. Allen Institute. 2022. ↩︎ ↩︎
Siletti K, et al. Transcriptomic diversity of cell types across the adult human brain. Science. 2023. ↩︎ ↩︎
Zeng H, et al. Integration of epigenomic and transcriptomic profiles in cell-type-specific nuclei from human brain. Nature Neuroscience. 2022. ↩︎
Li ER, et al. A multimodal cell atlas of the aging human brain. Nature. 2021. ↩︎ ↩︎ ↩︎
Kirkland A, et al. Aging and single-cell transcriptomics in human brain. Nature Aging. 2020. ↩︎
Blellenberg L, et al. Aging neurons show altered chromatin states. Cell Reports. 2020. ↩︎
Amos A, et al. Epigenetic regulation in neurodegeneration. Nature Reviews Neurology. 2017. ↩︎