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Single-cell analysis delineates a trajectory toward the human early otic lineage.

ABSTRACT: Efficient pluripotent stem cell guidance protocols for the production of human posterior cranial placodes such as the otic placode that gives rise to the inner ear do not exist. Here we use a systematic approach including defined monolayer culture, signaling modulation, and single-cell gene expression analysis to delineate a developmental trajectory for human otic lineage specification in vitro. We found that modulation of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and WNT signaling combined with FGF and retinoic acid treatments over the course of 18 days generates cell populations that develop chronological expression of marker genes of non-neural ectoderm, preplacodal ectoderm, and early otic lineage. Gene expression along this differentiation path is distinct from other lineages such as endoderm, mesendoderm, and neural ectoderm. Single-cell analysis exposed the heterogeneity of differentiating cells and allowed discrimination of non-neural ectoderm and otic lineage cells from off-target populations. Pseudotemporal ordering of human embryonic stem cell and induced pluripotent stem cell-derived single-cell gene expression profiles revealed an initially synchronous guidance toward non-neural ectoderm, followed by comparatively asynchronous occurrences of preplacodal and otic marker genes. Positive correlation of marker gene expression between both cell lines and resemblance to mouse embryonic day 10.5 otocyst cells implied reasonable robustness of the guidance protocol. Single-cell trajectory analysis further revealed that otic progenitor cell types are induced in monolayer cultures, but further development appears impeded, likely because of lack of a lineage-stabilizing microenvironment. Our results provide a framework for future exploration of stabilizing microenvironments for efficient differentiation of stem cell-generated human otic cell types.

SUBMITTER: Ealy M

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4968758 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Single-cell analysis delineates a trajectory toward the human early otic lineage.

Ealy Megan M Ellwanger Daniel C DC Kosaric Nina N Stapper Andres P AP Heller Stefan S

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 20160711 30

Efficient pluripotent stem cell guidance protocols for the production of human posterior cranial placodes such as the otic placode that gives rise to the inner ear do not exist. Here we use a systematic approach including defined monolayer culture, signaling modulation, and single-cell gene expression analysis to delineate a developmental trajectory for human otic lineage specification in vitro. We found that modulation of bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) and WNT signaling combined with FGF and ...[more]

PMID: 27402757

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Project description:BACKGROUND:Cardiac differentiation from human pluripotent stem cells provides a unique opportunity to study human heart development in vitro and offers a potential cell source for cardiac regeneration. Compared to the large body of studies investigating cardiac maturation and cardiomyocyte subtype-specific induction, molecular events underlying cardiac lineage commitment from pluripotent stem cells at early stage remain poorly characterized. RESULTS:In order to uncover key molecular events and regulators controlling cardiac lineage commitment from a pluripotent state during differentiation, we performed single-cell RNA-Seq sequencing and obtained high-quality data for 6879 cells collected from 6 stages during cardiac differentiation from human embryonic stem cells and identified multiple cell subpopulations with distinct molecular features. Through constructing developmental trajectory of cardiac differentiation and putative ligand-receptor interactions, we revealed crosstalk between cardiac progenitor cells and endoderm cells, which could potentially provide a cellular microenvironment supporting cardiac lineage commitment at day 5. In addition, computational analyses of single-cell RNA-Seq data unveiled ETS1 (ETS Proto-Oncogene 1) activation as an important downstream event induced by crosstalk between cardiac progenitor cells and endoderm cells. Consistent with the findings from single-cell analysis, chromatin immunoprecipitation followed by high-throughput sequencing (ChIP-Seq) against ETS1 revealed genomic occupancy of ETS1 at cardiac structural genes at day 9 and day 14, whereas ETS1 depletion dramatically compromised cardiac differentiation. CONCLUSION:Together, our study not only characterized the molecular features of different cell types and identified ETS1 as a crucial factor induced by cell-cell crosstalk contributing to cardiac lineage commitment from a pluripotent state, but may also have important implications for understanding human heart development at early embryonic stage, as well as directed manipulation of cardiac differentiation in regenerative medicine.

Project description:BackgroundHematopoietic stem and progenitor cell (HSPC) subsets in mice have previously been studied using cell surface markers, and more recently single-cell technologies. The recent revolution of single-cell analysis is substantially transforming our understanding of hematopoiesis, confirming the substantial heterogeneity of cells composing the hematopoietic system. While dynamic molecular changes at the DNA/RNA level underlying hematopoiesis have been extensively explored, a broad understanding of single-cell heterogeneity in hematopoietic signaling programs and landscapes, studied at protein level and reflecting post-transcriptional processing, is still lacking. Here, we accurately quantified the intracellular levels of 9 phosphorylated and 2 functional proteins at the single-cell level to systemically capture the activation dynamics of 8 signaling pathways, including EGFR, Jak/Stat, NF-κB, MAPK/ERK1/2, MAPK/p38, PI3K/Akt, Wnt, and mTOR pathways, during mouse hematopoiesis using mass cytometry.ResultsWith fine-grained analyses of 3.2 million of single hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells (HSPCs), and lineage cells in conjunction with multiparameter cellular phenotyping, we mapped trajectories of signaling programs during HSC differentiation and identified specific signaling biosignatures of cycling HSPC and multiple differentiation routes from stem cells to progenitor and lineage cells. We also investigated the recovery pattern of hematopoietic cell populations, as well as signaling regulation in these populations, during hematopoietic reconstruction. Overall, we found substantial heterogeneity of pathway activation within HSPC subsets, characterized by diverse patterns of signaling.ConclusionsThese comprehensive single-cell data provide a powerful insight into the intracellular signaling-regulated hematopoiesis and lay a solid foundation to dissect the nature of HSC fate decision. Future integration of transcriptomics and proteomics data, as well as functional validation, will be required to verify the heterogeneity in HSPC subsets during HSC differentiation and to identify robust markers to phenotype those HSPC subsets.

Dataset Information

Single-cell analysis delineates a trajectory toward the human early otic lineage.

Publications

Single-cell analysis delineates a trajectory toward the human early otic lineage.

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