scRNA-seq nased characrization of Cdh16-expression alveolar epithelial progenitor during mouse lung development

We have employed a single cell sequencing approach using 10x Genomics scRNAseq to study Cdh16-expression alveolar epithelial progenitor during mouse lung development. Alveolar morphogenesis and regeneration rely on progenitors to replenish alveolar epithelia. Cdh16 positive cells constitute an epithelial progenitor pool capable of differentiating into both AT2 and AT1 cells.In this study, we present the first scRNA-seq analysis on of Cdh16 lineage traced cells during mouse lung alveologenesis, revealing their plasticity with a dynamic differentiation trajetory along with the embryonic stages as well as the postnatal days. Overall, our study elucidates the crucial role of the Cdh16 lineage as alveolar epithelial progenitors in lung development and regeneration. Cdh16CreERT2/wt;R26-tdTomatoflox/wt mice were used for in vivo lineage tracing experiments to label Cdh16Pos cells in embryonic lung tissues.Tamoxifen (Sigma-Aldrich) was administered to timed-pregnant females either via IP injection (0.1 mg/kg body weight) or through diet (0.4 g/kg food) since embryonic day 12.5 (E12.5), with embryonic lungs collected at E18.5 and postnatal day 10 (P10). TomatoPos cells were isolated by Fluorescence-activated cellsorting (FACS) and analyzed using scRNA-seq.