Abstract
Background
Severe traumatic brain injury (sTBI) leads to significant morbidity and mortality,
often complicated by cerebral edema and raised intracranial pressure (ICP). Understanding
the molecular impact of these pathophysiological changes on the injured and adjacent
noninjured brain is crucial for improving patient outcomes. Single-cell ribonucleic
acid sequencing (scRNA-seq) offers a high-resolution approach to studying cellular
heterogeneity and transcriptional alterations in TBI.
Objective
This study aims to utilize scRNA-seq to analyze injured and noninjured brain tissue
in patients with sTBI, identify differentially expressed genes, and characterize the
cellular response to injury and its relation to ICP.
Materials and Methods
A cross-sectional study will be conducted, and brain tissue samples will be collected
from sTBI patients. Tissue samples will be obtained during decompressive craniectomy,
processed, and analyzed using the 10× Chromium system. Libraries will be sequenced
on Illumina NovaSeq 6000, and transcriptomic data will be analyzed using Seurat and
other bioinformatics tools. Bulk RNA sequencing will be performed for validation.
Results
This study is expected to identify unique gene expression patterns associated with
cerebral edema, characterize cellular responses in injured versus noninjured brain
regions, and provide insights into molecular pathways contributing to secondary brain
injury.
Conclusion
By leveraging scRNA-seq, this study will provide a deeper understanding of the transcriptomic
changes in sTBI. The findings may aid in discovering novel biomarkers and therapeutic
targets, ultimately improving clinical management strategies for TBI patients.
Keywords severe traumatic brain injury - single-cell RNA sequencing - cerebral edema - intracranial
pressure - transcriptomics - biomarker discovery
