Transcriptomic profiling of morphine and LPS exposure across mouse brain regions

We profiled genome-wide gene expression across four brain regions (hippocampus, prefrontal cortex, striatum, and hypothalamus) in male and female C57BL/6NTac mice using a perinatal morphine exposure model of Neonatal Opioid Withdrawal Syndrome (NOWS). Mice received morphine or saline perinatally, then were challenged with LPS or saline in adulthood, yielding four groups (SAL-SAL, SAL-LPS, MOR-SAL, MOR-LPS). NeuN+ neuronal nuclei (~5,000 per sample) were isolated by FACS from PFC, hippocampus, hypothalamus, and striatum and profiled by RNA-seq (Illumina NovaSeq X Plus, paired-end 150 bp). RNA-seq identified differentially expressed genes enriched in immune and metabolic pathways, with the hypothalamus displaying the most pronounced transcriptional response to perinatal morphine exposure.