Thanks to @erin-schuman.bsky.social , @evakaulich.bsky.social and other co-authors, and @mpibrain.bsky.social for all the support 🙂🧠 looking forward to your feedback!

Finally, we discovered that the transcriptome of layer 1 resembles that of stratum lacunosum moleculare in the hippocampus – indicating that the molecular environment of these distal layers might have been conserved.

By comparing layer 1 synapses to synapses from deeper layers, we found significant transcriptomic differences. This shows that the sets of mRNAs localized to synapses change depending on cortical layer, potentially conferring specialized function.

We used metabolic labelling and FISH to discover that local protein synthesis is indeed a feature of layer 1. We characterized the transcriptome of layer 1 and its synapses, discovering >1000 transcripts localized at excitatory synapses, and a distinct set of mRNAs localized at inhibitory synapses.

Decades of work, on the other hand, have shown that local protein synthesis is an important mechanism for neuronal function and plasticity – yet it is unknown how this process is regulated in the cortex, and whether it is used to achieve layer-specific function.

Cortical layer 1 integrates top-down inputs with bottom-up information and undergoes plasticity during learning, but we don’t know much about the underlying molecular mechanisms.

Good luck! 😊💪