%0 Journal Article
%T Single-cell transcriptomic evidence for dense intracortical neuropeptide networks.
%A Smith SJ
%A Sümbül U
%A Graybuck LT
%A Collman F
%A Seshamani S
%A Gala R
%A Gliko O
%A Elabbady L
%A Miller JA
%A Bakken TE
%A Rossier J
%A Yao Z
%A Lein E
%A Zeng H
%A Tasic B
%A Hawrylycz M
%J Elife
%V 8
%N 0
%D 11 2019 11
%M 31710287
%F 8.713
%R 10.7554/eLife.47889
%X Seeking new insights into the homeostasis, modulation and plasticity of cortical synaptic networks, we have analyzed results from a single-cell RNA-seq study of 22,439 mouse neocortical neurons. Our analysis exposes transcriptomic evidence for dozens of molecularly distinct neuropeptidergic modulatory networks that directly interconnect all cortical neurons. This evidence begins with a discovery that transcripts of one or more neuropeptide precursor (NPP) and one or more neuropeptide-selective G-protein-coupled receptor (NP-GPCR) genes are highly abundant in all, or very nearly all, cortical neurons. Individual neurons express diverse subsets of NP signaling genes from palettes encoding 18 NPPs and 29 NP-GPCRs. These 47 genes comprise 37 cognate NPP/NP-GPCR pairs, implying the likelihood of local neuropeptide signaling. Here, we use neuron-type-specific patterns of NP gene expression to offer specific, testable predictions regarding 37 peptidergic neuromodulatory networks that may play prominent roles in cortical homeostasis and plasticity.