Single-cell RNA sequencing of mouse neural stem cell differentiation reveals adverse effects of cadmium on neurogenesis

Cadmium (Cd) is a toxic heavy metal and widely exists in the environment. Extensive studies have revealed that Cd exposure can elicit neurotoxicity and potentially interfere with neurogenesis. However, underlying mechanisms by which Cd exposure affects neurogenesis remain unclear. In this study, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of the differentiated mixture from neonatal mouse Neural Stem Cells (mNSCs) that were exposed to Cd for 24 h and differentiated for 7 days. Our results showed that Cd exposure led to an increase in the differentiation of NSCs into astrocytes while a decrease into neurons. Besides, Cd induced subtype-specific response and dysregulated cell-to-cell communication. Collectively, our scRNA-seq data suggested that Cd had toxic effects on NSCs differentiation at the single-cell level, which offered insight into the potential molecular mechanism of Cd on neurogenesis. Furthermore, our findings provided a new method for assessing the neurodevelopmental toxicity of environmental pollutants.