Nervous systems of mammalian organisms are composed of various cell types with different morphology, function and connectivity. Understanding this complicity from a molecular point of view requires the application of systematic, large-scale approaches.
Several initiatives already analyzed mRNA expression in different brain regions, at different time points and in different cell types. However, what is missing so far is a comprehensive analysis of the brain proteome and proteomic profiles of distinct cell types of the brain. This is challenging, since the tight interact tightly of these cells makes it difficult to separate them.
Here, we performed label-free quantitative proteomics to generate an inventory of > 10,000 proteins in astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, microglia and neurons. Analysis of our datasets identified novel proteins in these cell types. For example, we identified Col11a1 and Bcas1 as novel oligodendrocyte proteins. Extending our analysis to proteins expressed by both neurons and oligodendrocytes, we found Lsamp as a negative regulator for myelination. These examples demonstrate how our datasets can be used as a valuable resource to study development and function of brain cells.
