Skeletal stem and progenitor cells maintain cranial suture patency and prevent craniosynostosis.

ABSTRACT: Cranial sutures are major growth centers for the calvarial vault, and their premature fusion leads to a pathologic condition called craniosynostosis. This study investigates whether skeletal stem/progenitor cells are resident in the cranial sutures. Prospective isolation by FACS identifies this population with a significant difference in spatio-temporal representation between fusing versus patent sutures. Transcriptomic analysis highlights a distinct signature in cells derived from the physiological closing PF suture, and scRNA sequencing identifies transcriptional heterogeneity among sutures. Wnt-signaling activation increases skeletal stem/progenitor cells in sutures, whereas its inhibition decreases. Crossing Axin2^LacZ/+ mouse, endowing enhanced Wnt activation, to a Twist1

SUBMITTER: Menon S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8324898 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature