Gene expression profile at single cell level of human pneumocytes and fibroblasts cultured as organoids

Alveolar type 2 (AT2) are part of the stem cell niche of the lung and their differentiation is required for pulmonary homeostasis and tissue regeneration. A disturbed crosstalk between fibroblasts and epithelial cells contributes to the loss of lung structure in chronic lung diseases. We used single cell RNA sequencing to analyze the interaction of human fibroblasts and the alveolar epithelium modelled in organoid cultures. Human AT2 cells were seeded in Matrigel in co-culture with or without primary fibroblasts. Single cell suspensions were obtained after 21 days and single cell transcriptome profiling was performed by BD Rhapsody™ Single-Cell Analysis System.