RT Journal Article
SR Electronic
T1 Single-cell transcriptome analysis reveals cell-cell communication and thyrocyte diversity in the zebrafish thyroid gland
JF bioRxiv
FD Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
SP 2020.01.13.891630
DO 10.1101/2020.01.13.891630
A1 Pierre Gillotay
A1 Meghna Shankar
A1 Benoit Haerlingen
A1 Sema Elif Eski
A1 Macarena Pozo-Morales
A1 Inés Garteizgogeascoa Suñer
A1 Susanne Reinhardt
A1 Annekathrin Kränkel
A1 Juliane Bläsche
A1 Andreas Petzold
A1 Nikolay Ninov
A1 Gokul Kesavan
A1 Christian Lange
A1 Michael Brand
A1 Vincent Detours
A1 Sabine Costagliola
A1 Sumeet Pal Singh
YR 2020
UL http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2020/03/27/2020.01.13.891630.abstract
AB The thyroid gland regulates growth and metabolism via production of thyroid hormone in follicles composed of thyrocytes. So far, thyrocytes have been assumed to be a homogenous population. To uncover genetic heterogeneity in the thyrocyte population, and molecularly characterize the non-thyrocyte cells surrounding the follicle, we developed a single-cell transcriptome atlas of the zebrafish thyroid gland. The 6249-cell atlas includes profiles of thyrocytes, blood vessels, lymphatic vessels, immune cells and fibroblasts. Further, the thyrocytes could be split into two sub-populations with unique transcriptional signature, including differential expression of the transcription factor pax2a. To validate thyrocyte heterogeneity, we generated a CRISPR/Cas9-based pax2a knock-in line, which demonstrated specific pax2a expression in the thyrocytes. However, a population of pax2a-low mature thyrocytes interspersed within individual follicles could be distinguished, corroborating heterogeneity within the thyrocyte population. Our results identify and validate transcriptional differences within the nominally homogenous thyrocyte population.One-line summary Single-cell analysis uncovers latent heterogeneity in thyroid follicular cells.