Single cell RNA-seq reveals the urothelium and stroma cell heterogeneity in acute and chronic injured urinary bladder by single-cell analysis

Some studies have demonstrated the heterogeneity of bladder epithelium and fibroblasts, as well as their crosstalk during bladder development and regeneration. However, due to the limitations of techniques, a comprehensive understanding of cellular heterogeneity and crosstalk during bladder regeneration is still lacking. Here, we used droplet-based scRNA-seq to recover the heterogeneity of urothelial cells, cell cycle characteristic of proliferative cell population and proliferative niches after acute and chronic injury induced by cyclophosphamide.

已有研究证实膀胱上皮（bladder epithelium）与成纤维细胞（fibroblasts）存在细胞异质性，且二者在膀胱发育与再生过程中存在细胞串扰。然而受限于现有实验技术手段，目前学界对膀胱再生过程中的细胞异质性与细胞串扰仍缺乏全面系统的认知。本研究采用基于液滴的单细胞RNA测序（droplet-based scRNA-seq）技术，解析了环磷酰胺诱导的急性与慢性损伤后，尿路上皮细胞的异质性、增殖细胞群的细胞周期特征及增殖微环境。