A Hierarchy of Proliferative and Migratory Keratinocytes Maintains the Tympanic Membrane.

ABSTRACT: The tympanic membrane (TM) is critical for hearing and requires continuous clearing of cellular debris, but little is known about homeostatic mechanisms in the TM epidermis. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, lineage tracing, whole-organ explant, and live-cell imaging, we show that homeostatic TM epidermis is distinct from other epidermal sites and has discrete proliferative zones with a three-dimensional hierarchy of multiple keratinocyte populations. TM stem cells reside in a discrete location of the superior TM and generate long-lived clones and committed progenitors (CPs). CP clones exhibit lateral migration, and their proliferative capacity is supported by Pdgfra+ fibroblasts, generating migratory but non-proliferative progeny. Single-cell sequencing of the human TM revealed similar ce

SUBMITTER: Frumm SM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8962966 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Feb

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature