Bulk RNA-sequencing of FACS isolated human fetal lung, intestine, and kidney endothelial cells

Adult endothelial cells (ECs) are known to possess organ-specific gene expression, morphology and function, but whether organ-specific EC gene expression is present during human development is not known. Here, we used bulk RNA-sequencing (RNA-seq) to interrogate the developing human intestine, lung, and kidney in order to identify organ-enriched EC-gene signatures. FACS was used to isolate EC (CD31+CD144+, n=13) and non-EC (CD31-CD144-, n=16) populations from these three organs, profiling at least 4 biological replicates for each organ system. The biological specimens profiled were between 11-20 gestational weeks. We also sequenced cultured human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVECs) via bulk RNAseq. Computational approaches were used to identify organ-specific EC-enriched gene signatures across human fetal lung, intestine, and kidney ECs.