Spatiotemporal Dynamics of Inner Ear Sensory and Non-sensory Cells Revealed by Single-cell Transcriptomics

Overview

Journal Cell Rep

Publisher Cell Press

Specialties Biology
Cell Biology
Molecular Biology

Date 2021 Jul 14

PMID 34260939

Citations 22

Authors

Taha A Jan

Yasmin Eltawil

Angela H Ling

Leon Chen

Daniel C Ellwanger

Stefan Heller

Alan G Cheng

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

The utricle is a vestibular sensory organ that requires mechanosensitive hair cells to detect linear acceleration. In neonatal mice, new hair cells are derived from non-sensory supporting cells, yet cell type diversity and mechanisms of cell addition remain poorly characterized. Here, we perform computational analyses on single-cell transcriptomes to categorize cell types and resolve 14 individual sensory and non-sensory subtypes. Along the periphery of the sensory epithelium, we uncover distinct groups of transitional epithelial cells, marked by Islr, Cnmd, and Enpep expression. By reconstructing de novo trajectories and gene dynamics, we show that as the utricle expands, Islr transitional epithelial cells exhibit a dynamic and proliferative phase to generate new supporting cells, followed by coordinated differentiation into hair cells. Taken together, our study reveals a sequential and coordinated process by which non-sensory epithelial cells contribute to growth of the postnatal mouse sensory epithelium.

Citing Articles

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