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Single-cell analysis reveals alterations in limbal stem cells and niche regulations during cornea wound healing

ABSTRACT: The rapid and effective regeneration of corneal epithelial cells depends on limbal stem cells (LSCs). The LSCs of mouse can be subdivided into quiescent LSCs (located on the outer limbus, qLSCs) and active LSCs (located on the inner limbus, aLSCs). Here, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to decipher the transcriptional changes in qLSCs and aLSCs and their niche regulations during the corneal wound healing, and reconstructed the pseudotime trajectory and differentiation of LSCs. Our comparative study identified a transcription factor Creb5, expressed in LSCs, that was significantly upregulated after corneal epithelial injury, and the loss-of-function experiments revealed that silencing Creb5 delayed the corneal epithelial healing. Besides, we predicted a significant increase in the number of ligand-receptor pairs for intercellular communications during corneal epithelial wound healing, especially between immune cells and LSCs, implying the participation of various niche cells in limbal stem cell kinetics during corneal epithelial regeneration. Overall, our research reveals numerous findings on the behavior and functionality of LSCs during corneal wound healing, providing reference for the discovery of mechanisms and potential clinical interventions of ocular surface reconstruction.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE247392 | GEO | 2024/07/10

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Limbal stem cells including epithelial and stromal/Mesenchymal stem cells that contribute to sustained corneal homeostasis, maintain their ability to act as self-renewal progenitor cells by virtue of their limbal niche and intercellular communication. Extracellular vehicles (EVs), including exosomes (Exos), are important paracrine mediators through their cargo transfer for intercellular communication in various stem cell niches. Previously we have shown the differential cargos and regulatory roles of limbal stromal cell (LSC)-derived Exos, in limbal epithelial cells (LEC) in normal (N) and diabetic (DM) limbal niche. In the present study, to have a comprehensive knowledge of reciprocal LEC-LSC crosstalk, we investigated the proteomics and miRNA profile of exosomes derived from LEC and their regulatory roles in LSC in N and DM limbus. Our study showed wound healing and proliferation rates in primary N-LSC were significantly enhanced upon treatment by normal LEC-derived Exos (N-Exos), but not by diabetic Exos (DM-Exos). Further, N-Exos treated LSC showed downregulation of keratocyte markers, ALDH3A1 and lumican, but not keratocan, and upregulation of MSC markers, CD105, CD90, and CD73 compared to the DM-Exos treated LSC. Using next generation sequencing (NGS) and proteomics analysis, we revealed some miRNAs and proteins in the Exos that affect the cellular crosstalk and the function of the cornea. We also documented differences in DM vs. normal LEC-derived Exo’s cargos. Overall, DM-Exos have less effect on LSC proliferation, wound healing, and stem cell maintenance than N-Exos, likely by transferring their cargo proteins and/or regulatory miRNAs targeting cell cycle, ERK/MAPK, TGF-β, EMT, PI3K-Akt-mTOR signaling molecules. This suggests that the small RNA and protein cargo differences in DM vs. N LEC-derived Exos could contribute to the disease state. Our study revealed a complex contribution of Exos to health and diabetic state of corneal homeostasis and suggests the potential of EV therapeutics for diabetic cornea regenerative medicine

Project description:Limbal stem cells (LSCs), known as corneal epithelial stem cells, are located at the basal epithelial layer of the corneal limbus and serve an important function in maintaining the homeostasis of the corneal epithelium. Several putative molecular markers of LSCs have been previously identified. However, the specificity of these markers remains largely controversial. To address this gap in the current understanding of LSCs, we performed a transcriptome profiling of heterogeneous corneal limbal basal cells using single-cell transcriptomics technology to identify LSCs and their exclusive markers. We isolated limbal basal cells from two young donors, constructed scRNA-seq libraries, generated RNA-sequencing data using the 10x Genomics platform, and then finally obtained the transcriptome of about 18,000 individual single-cells using Cell ranger (https://10xgenomics.com). Next, we performed quality control, filtering and data integration using Seurat package (https://satijalab.org/seurat), about 16,400 cells were retained for further downstream analysis such as dimensional reduction, unsupervised clustering, and Differentially expressed gene selection, trajectory analysis and visualization. We identified 11 unique clusters of cells assigned to a putative cell type based on published known biomarkers for differentiation, proliferation and putative epithelial stem cells. As a results, we found 2 Terminally Differentiated Cell (TDC), 3 Post-Mitotic Cell (PMC), 1 Transient Amplifying Cell (TAC), 2 Limbal Progenitor Cell (LPC), Putative Limbal Stem Cell (LSC) and 2 Melanocyte (MC) sub-cell type clusters. Furthermore, we confirmed the trajectory order of LSC differentiation for 9 clusters using Pseudotemporal and Functional PCA analysis. Lastly, we validated each assigned cell subtypes and determined their location in human corneal limbus tissue with 9 markers using RNAscope We were able to reveal the heterogeneity of corneal limbal basal epithelium by defining novel dynamic trajectories for cell types in a pseudotemporal manner. This approach allowed us to identify the distinct clusters of LSCs and progenitors with exclusively expressed markers, and might apply for translational research on regenerating a normal corneal epithelium and restoring vision.

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Single-cell analysis reveals alterations in limbal stem cells and niche regulations during cornea wound healing

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