Single cell atlas of epithelial and stromal cell heterogeneity by lobe and strain in the mouse prostate. Single cell atlas of epithelial and stromal cell heterogeneity by lobe and strain in the mouse prostate

Evaluating the complex interplay of cell types in the tissue microenvironment is critical to understanding the origin and progression of diseases in the prostate and potential opportunities for intervention. Mouse models are an essential tool to investigate the molecular and cell-type-specific contributions of prostate disease at an organismal level. While there are well-documented differences in the extent, timing, and nature of disease development in various genetically engineered and exposure-based mouse models in different mouse strains and prostate lobes within each mouse strain, the underlying molecular phenotypic differences in cell types across mouse strains and prostate lobes are incompletely understood. Overall design: In this study, we used single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) methods to assess the single-cell transcriptomes of 6-month-old mouse prostates from two commonly used mouse strains, FVB/NJ (N = 2) and C57BL/6J (N = 3). For each mouse, the lobes of the prostate were dissected (anterior, dorsal, lateral, and ventral), and individual scRNA-seq libraries were generated.

解析组织微环境中细胞类型间的复杂相互作用，对于阐明前列腺疾病的起源与进展、发掘潜在干预靶点至关重要。小鼠模型是在个体水平探究前列腺疾病的分子机制及细胞类型特异性致病贡献的核心工具。尽管已有大量文献证实，不同遗传工程改造及暴露造模的小鼠模型、不同小鼠品系以及同一品系内各前列腺叶的疾病发生程度、时序与特征均存在差异，但不同小鼠品系及前列腺叶间细胞类型的潜在分子表型差异仍未被完全阐明。实验整体设计：本研究采用单细胞RNA测序（single-cell RNA-sequencing, scRNA-seq）技术，对两种常用小鼠品系——FVB/NJ（N = 2）与C57BL/6J（N = 3）的6月龄小鼠前列腺进行单细胞转录组分析。每只小鼠的前列腺均被分离为前叶、背叶、侧叶及腹叶，并分别构建单细胞测序文库。