Single-cell RNA sequencing reveals the mesangial identity and species diversity of glomerular cell transcriptomes

Bing He, Ping Chen, Sonia Zambrano, Dina Dabaghie, Yizhou Hu, Katja Möller-Hackbarth, David Unnersjö-Jess, Gül Gizem Korkut, Emmanuelle Charrin, Marie Jeansson, Maria Bintanel-Morcillo, Anna Witasp, Lars Wennberg, Annika Wernerson, Bernhard Schermer, Thomas Benzing, Patrik Ernfors, Christer Betsholtz, Mark Lal, Rickard Sandberg and Jaakko Patrakka ()
Additional contact information
Bing He: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)
Ping Chen: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)
Sonia Zambrano: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)
Dina Dabaghie: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)
Yizhou Hu: Division of Neuroscience, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics (MBB), Karolinska Institute
Katja Möller-Hackbarth: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)
David Unnersjö-Jess: University of Cologne
Gül Gizem Korkut: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)
Emmanuelle Charrin: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)
Marie Jeansson: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)
Maria Bintanel-Morcillo: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)
Anna Witasp: Division of Renal Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institute
Lars Wennberg: Division of Transplantation, Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institute
Annika Wernerson: Division of Renal Medicine, Department of Clinical Sciences, Intervention and Technology, Karolinska Institute
Bernhard Schermer: University of Cologne
Thomas Benzing: University of Cologne
Patrik Ernfors: Division of Neuroscience, Department of Medical Biochemistry and Biophysics (MBB), Karolinska Institute
Christer Betsholtz: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)
Mark Lal: Bioscience, Cardiovascular, Renal and Metabolism, R&D Biopharmaceuticals
Rickard Sandberg: Department of Cell and Molecular Biology, Karolinska Institute
Jaakko Patrakka: Karolinska Institute/AstraZeneca Integrated Cardio Metabolic Center (ICMC)

Nature Communications, 2021, vol. 12, issue 1, 1-19

Abstract: Abstract Molecular characterization of the individual cell types in human kidney as well as model organisms are critical in defining organ function and understanding translational aspects of biomedical research. Previous studies have uncovered gene expression profiles of several kidney glomerular cell types, however, important cells, including mesangial (MCs) and glomerular parietal epithelial cells (PECs), are missing or incompletely described, and a systematic comparison between mouse and human kidney is lacking. To this end, we use Smart-seq2 to profile 4332 individual glomerulus-associated cells isolated from human living donor renal biopsies and mouse kidney. The analysis reveals genetic programs for all four glomerular cell types (podocytes, glomerular endothelial cells, MCs and PECs) as well as rare glomerulus-associated macula densa cells. Importantly, we detect heterogeneity in glomerulus-associated Pdgfrb-expressing cells, including bona fide intraglomerular MCs with the functionally active phagocytic molecular machinery, as well as a unique mural cell type located in the central stalk region of the glomerulus tuft. Furthermore, we observe remarkable species differences in the individual gene expression profiles of defined glomerular cell types that highlight translational challenges in the field and provide a guide to design translational studies.

Date: 2021
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (4)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-22331-9 Abstract (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:nat:natcom:v:12:y:2021:i:1:d:10.1038_s41467-021-22331-9

Ordering information: This journal article can be ordered from
https://www.nature.com/ncomms/

DOI: 10.1038/s41467-021-22331-9

Access Statistics for this article

Nature Communications is currently edited by Nathalie Le Bot, Enda Bergin and Fiona Gillespie

More articles in Nature Communications from Nature
Bibliographic data for series maintained by Sonal Shukla () and Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing ().