Single cell atlas of the aging mouse trachea

The airways conduct gases to and from the gas-exchanging alveoli of the lung and are the site of age-related diseases, such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma, and bronchogenic carcinoma. Here we set out to study the effects of aging on the cellular composition and gene expression of murine airway. We present a comprehensive single-cell RNA-sequencing atlas of tracheas from young (2 month) and aged (24 month) mice, comprising diverse populations of cells, including epithelial, endothelial, immune, fibroblast, and cartilage cells. To study the effects of aging on cellular composition and gene expression of mouse airway, tracheas from two young (2 month) and two aged (24 month) animals were subjected to single cell dissociation and 3'-droplet based sequencing, without targeting or enrichment of specific cell types.气道负责将气体输送至肺部的气体交换肺泡并从中排出，同时也是慢性阻塞性肺疾病（chronic obstructive pulmonary disease）、哮喘（asthma）及支气管肺癌（bronchogenic carcinoma）等年龄相关性疾病的发病部位。本研究旨在探究衰老对小鼠气道（murine airway）细胞组成与基因表达的影响。我们构建了涵盖年轻（2月龄）与老龄（24月龄）小鼠气管的全面单细胞RNA测序（single-cell RNA-sequencing）图谱，该图谱包含上皮细胞、内皮细胞、免疫细胞、成纤维细胞与软骨细胞等多种细胞类群。为探究衰老对小鼠气道细胞组成与基因表达的影响，研究人员对2只年轻（2月龄）与2只老龄（24月龄）小鼠的气管进行单细胞解离，并采用基于液滴的3'端测序（3'-droplet based sequencing）技术，未针对特定细胞类群进行靶向分选或富集。