Project description:The resting zone (RZ) in mammalian growth plates is critical for maintaining and regulating chondrocyte turnover during longitudinal bone growth as a control tower and stem cell reservoir. Although recent lineage tracing studies have identified several markers for stem cells in the RZ, these markers only partially label chondrocytes in the RZ, suggesting that the resting chondrocytes (RCs) are a heterogeneous population with different types of stem cells. Since a comprehensive marker for RCs is still lacking, the RZ is generally determined based on ambiguous histological criteria, such as small and round chondrocytes without columnar formation, which may lead to inconsistencies among researchers. Therefore, in this study, we used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) of growth plate chondrocytes followed by validation by fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) to precisely annotate cell clusters in scRNAseq and search for a marker of RCs. The scRNAseq analysis revealed that apolipoprotein E (Apoe) was the top-hit gene, which was ubiquitously expressed in the RC cluster. FISH confirmed that Apoe was exclusively localized to the histologically defined RZ. In newly generated ApoemCherry knock-in mice, we further confirmed that mCherry expression mirrored the distribution of Apoe-expressing chondrocytes in the RZ particularly after the formation of the secondary ossification center. These mCherry+ RCs were slow cycling in vivo and exhibited stem cell properties in vitro. Moreover, APOE was detected in human growth plate RCs. These findings suggest that apolipoprotein E is a novel pan-RC marker in both mouse and human growth plates.
Project description:Growth plate chondrocytes were isolated from the distal metacarpus of young dairy cattle (all under 10 mo of age), the chondrocytes were released from the extracellular matrix by digestion with Collagenase P for 4 hours, and the various zones of the growth plate were separated by density centrifugation. The least-dense Hypertrophic Zone (HZ) cells were compared to the most-dense Reserve Zone (RZ) cells. 6 pairs of HZ vs RZ were compared by microarray.
Project description:Growth plate chondrocytes were isolated from the distal metacarpus of young dairy cattle (all under 10 mo of age), the chondrocytes were released from the extracellular matrix by digestion with Collagenase P for 4 hours, and the various zones of the growth plate were separated by density centrifugation. The least-dense Hypertrophic Zone (HZ) cells were compared to the most-dense Reserve Zone (RZ) cells. 6 pairs of HZ vs RZ were compared by microarray. Experiment Overall Design: Growth plate chondrocytes were isolated from the distal metacarpus of young dairy cattle (all under 10 mo of age), the chondrocytes were released from the extracellular matrix by digestion with Collagenase P for 4 hours, and the various zones of the growth plate were separated by density centrifugation. The least-dense Hypertrophic Zone (HZ) cells were compared to the most-dense Reserve Zone (RZ) cells. Six independent sample pairs of HZ vs RZ were compared by microarray.
Project description:We investigated the molecular mechanisms that regulate the self-renewal and differentiation of chondroprogenitors by comparing the transcriptome profiles between resting chondrocytes and proliferative chondrocytes
Project description:Axial growth of long bones occurs through a coordinated process of growth plate chondrocyte proliferation and differentiation. This maturation of chondrocytes is reflected in a zonal change in gene expression and cell morphology from resting to proliferative, prehypertrophic, and hypertrophic chondrocytes of the growth plate followed by ossification. A major experimental limitation in understanding growth plate biology and pathophysiology is the lack of a robust technique to isolate cells from the different zones, particularly from small animals. Here, we report on a new strategy for separating distinct chondrocyte populations from mouse growth plates. By transcriptome profiling of microdissected zones of growth plates, we identified novel, zone-specific cell surface markers and used these for flow cytometry and immunomagnetic cell separation to quantify, enrich, and characterize chondrocytes populations with respect to their differentiation status. This approach provides a novel platform to study cartilage development and characterize mouse growth plate chondrocytes to reveal unique cellular phenotypes of the distinct subpopulations within the growth plate.
Project description:Gowth plate chondrocytes include heterogenous cell population and cellular diversity of these chondrocytes remains to be elucidated. We used single cell RNA sequencing to uncover the diverssity of growth plate chondrocytes and identify noel marker genes selectively expressed in pre-hypertrophic chondrocytes.