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A single cell atlas of human cornea that defines its development, limbal progenitor cells and their interactions with the immune cell

ABSTRACT: To study the development and composition of human ocular surface, we performed single cell (sc) RNA-Seq at key embryonic, fetal and adult stages and generated the first atlas of the corneal and conjunctival cell types from development to adulthood. The conjunctival epithelium is the first to be specified in the epithelial layer , followed by the corneal epithelium and the establishment of proliferative epithelial progenitors, which predate the formation of limbal niche by a few weeks. Bioinformatic comparison of adult cell clusters identified GPHA2,a novel cell-surface marker for quiescent limbal stem cells (qLSCs), whose function is to maintain qLSCs self-renewal. Combining scRNA- and ATAC-Seq analysis, we identified multiple upstream regulators for qLSCs and transit amplifying (TA) cells and demonstrated a close interaction between the immune cells and epithelial stem and progenitor cells in the cornea. Single cell RNA-Seq analysis indicated loss of qLSCs and acquisition of proliferative limbal epithelial progenitor markers during limbal epithelial cell expansion: this phenomenon was independent of culture method used. Extending the single cell analyses to Keratoconus, we were able to reveal activation of collagenase in the corneal stroma and a reduced pool of TA cells in the corneal epithelium as two key mechanistic changes underlying the disease phenotype. Our scRNA-Seq data comparisons of developing and adult cornea and conjunctiva provide a unique resource for defining pathways/genes that could lead to improvement in ex vivo expansion methods for cell based replacement therapies and better understanding and treatment of ocular surface disorders.

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE155683 | GEO | 2021/04/19

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Recently we had discovered a solid cord like structure at the limbus of human eyes, termed as the Limbal Epithelial Crypt (LEC). It arises from the undersurface of the interpalisade rete ridges and extends towards the conjunctiva over the conjunctival stroma. Anatomical and immunohistochemical studies have shown it to be potentially a Stem Cell Niche. To confirm this hypothesis we conducted comparative gene expression profile of LEC with pathway and Geneontology studies in comparison with other ocular surface epithelial regions such as cornea, limbus, LEC stroma and conjunctiva. Frozen tissue blocks of corneoscleral buttons dissected from cadaver eyes were cryosectioned. These tissue sections from different ocular surface regions were laser microdissected. Extracted RNA was amplified & hybridized to 30,000k Human spotted cDNA microarray chips. Raw data obtained with Genepix Pro6 software was filtered, normalized & analysed on BASE & Jexpresspro software. Unpaired T-Test, Significance Analysis of Microarrays were performed on the data. Database for Annotation, Visualisation, and Integrated Discovery (DAVID) (http://www.DAVID.niaid.nih.gov) and Ingenuity Pathway Analysis (IPA) was used to determine the enriched GO terms and pathways in the differentially expressed genes. Quantitative gene expression analysis (qPCR) and immunohistochemistry was performed on the genes of interest. Statistical analysis for real time PCR was performed on SPSS16 to determine the normalised expression of gene of interest on ocular surface regions. Samples were prepared from five human ocular surface epithelial regions such as Cornea, Limbus, LEC, LEC Stroma, Conjunctiva. There were four replicates in each groups except Cornea and Conjunctiva with 3 each. The Standard Probe (SP) was prepared from mixing equal amount of Corneal and conjunctival epithelial RNA followed by ethanol precipitation. Samples were labelled with Cy5 dye and Standard Probe with Cy3 Dye. These were mixed in equal amount to prepare hybrid probes which were then hybridised to microarray slide.

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A single cell atlas of human cornea that defines its development, limbal progenitor cells and their interactions with the immune cell

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