Single-cell analysis of fetal human gonads (male and female) using 10X genomics

Single cell transcriptomic analyses are increasingly being employed to study human developmental processes in the gonad to advance our understanding of human gametogenesis. However, to date, these analyses have primarily focused on germ cells, while the somatic niche has been largely overlooked. Moreover, a comparative transcriptomic analysis of both female and male early gonad development on the single cell level is currently lacking. We performed single cell RNA-Seq on whole human fetal gonads from first and second trimester, both from male and female. We define gene expression profiles, which include novel marker genes, of major gonadal somatic cell types and validate them on the protein level. We identify the genetic signature of early human male rete cells, both in male and in female gonads. Overall, our study provides an in-depth molecular characterization of both male and female somatic cell types in early fetal gonads. Overall design: Four samples from 6 fetal gonads and one mesonephros sample from 3 male donors were used for single cell cluster analysis.