Integrating Single-Cell and Spatial Transcriptomics Reveals Heterogeneity of Early Pig Skin Development and a Subpopulation with Hair Placode Formation.

ABSTRACT: The dermis and epidermis, crucial structural layers of the skin, encompass appendages, hair follicles (HFs), and intricate cellular heterogeneity. However, an integrated spatiotemporal transcriptomic atlas of embryonic skin has not yet been described and would be invaluable for studying skin-related diseases in humans. Here, single-cell and spatial transcriptomic analyses are performed on skin samples of normal and hairless fetal pigs across four developmental periods. The cross-species comparison of skin cells illustrated that the pig epidermis is more representative of the human epidermis than mice epidermis. Moreover, Phenome-wide association study analysis revealed that the conserved genes between pigs and humans are strongly associated with human skin-related diseases. In the epidermi

SUBMITTER: Wang Y 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11132071 | biostudies-literature | 2024 May

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature