Exploring the mechanisms of high-altitude adaptation in yak based on single-cell transcriptome atlas.

This study explores how yaks, an ideal animal model for studying plateau adaptability, adapt to high-altitude environments. The lung is a representative organ of the yak's adaptation to high-altitude environments. The F1 hybrids of yak and cattle, known as dzho, also exhibit adaptability to plateau conditions. This study constructed a single-cell transcriptome atlas of the lungs in yak, dzho and cattle, containing 51 subtypes. We initially found that the differential subtypes among yak, dzho and cattle were mainly concentrated in T&NK cells and fibroblasts. Most of them belonged to new cell subtypes. Subsequently, we speculated that NKG7 and CD4 played a central regulatory role in T&NK cells, contributing to T cell activation and affecting the adaptive immune response of yaks. In fibroblasts, MYL9 and IGF2 are believed to play key regulatory roles, participating in maintaining cellular energy metabolism balance. These results provide an important scientific basis for systematically analysing the molecular regulatory mechanisms of yak adaptation to high-altitude hypoxia. Overall design: Construction of single cell transcriptional profiles in lungs of yak, dzho, and cattle (n=3) using scRNA-seq.