The Developing Mouse Coronal Suture at Single-cell Resolution

Overview

Journal Nat Commun

Specialty Biology

Date 2021 Aug 11

PMID 34376651

Citations 47

Authors

DJuan T Farmer

Hana Mlcochova

Yan Zhou

Nils Koelling

Guanlin Wang

Neil Ashley

Helena Bugacov

Hung-Jhen Chen

Riana Parvez

Kuo-Chang Tseng

Amy E Merrill

Robert E Maxson Jr

Andrew O M Wilkie

J Gage Crump

Stephen R F Twigg

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Sutures separate the flat bones of the skull and enable coordinated growth of the brain and overlying cranium. The coronal suture is most commonly fused in monogenic craniosynostosis, yet the unique aspects of its development remain incompletely understood. To uncover the cellular diversity within the murine embryonic coronal suture, we generated single-cell transcriptomes and performed extensive expression validation. We find distinct pre-osteoblast signatures between the bone fronts and periosteum, a ligament-like population above the suture that persists into adulthood, and a chondrogenic-like population in the dura mater underlying the suture. Lineage tracing reveals an embryonic Six2+ osteoprogenitor population that contributes to the postnatal suture mesenchyme, with these progenitors being preferentially affected in a Twist1+/-; Tcf12+/- mouse model of Saethre-Chotzen Syndrome. This single-cell atlas provides a resource for understanding the development of the coronal suture and the mechanisms for its loss in craniosynostosis.

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