Endothelial Identity of Porcine Double-sorted CD31+ Kidney Cells

Endothelial cells of xenotransplanted gene-edited porcine kidneys are important due to the initial and prolonged exposure to host immune cells. To better study this cell population kidney endothelial cell lines (KECs) were generated by double CD31+ sorting. In order to ensure the endothelial identity of the cells RNA-seq was performed on KECs and the concomitant CD31- population from the initial sort. Analysis of gene expression in KECs showed a depletion of markers associated with tubular identity (SLC34A1, SLC2A2, SLC12A1), and enrichment for markers of endothelial (PECAM1, CDH5, VWF) and kidney endothelial (EHD3, HOX87, HOX89) identity. RNA-seq of double-sorted CD31+ and the concomitent CD31- cells of WT, 3KO, and payload 15S porcine kidneys to determine endothelial identity.