Single-cell transcriptomics implicates the FEZ1-DKK1 axis in the regulation of corneal epithelial cell proliferation and senescence.

ABSTRACT: Limbal stem/progenitor cells (LSC) represent the source of corneal epithelium renewal. LSC proliferation and differentiation are essential for corneal homeostasis, however, the regulatory mechanism remains largely unexplored. Here, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing and discovered proliferation heterogeneity as well as spontaneously differentiated and senescent cell subgroups in multiply passaged primary LSC. Fasciculation and elongation protein zeta 1 (FEZ1) and Dickkopf-1 (DKK1) were identified as two significant regulators of LSC proliferation and senescence. These two factors were mainly expressed in undifferentiated corneal epithelial cells (CECs). Knocking down the expression of either FEZ1 or DKK1 reduced cell division and caused cell cycle arrest. We observed that DKK1 acted a

SUBMITTER: Zhu L 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC10472519 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature