Collagen10-Cre;Rosa26-tdTomato e16.5 single cell RNA-sequencing

In order to assess the descendants of hypertrophic chondrocytes, we utilized Collagen10-Cre;Rosa26-tdTomato mouse total bone isolated at e16.5 by Collagenase II digestion after mechanical digestion and soft tissue removal. After sequencing and downstream analysis using Seurat, we observed clusters of cells with gene profiles matching classically defined chondrocytes, skeletal stem and progenitor cells (SSPCs), and osteoblasts. Trajectory analysis reveals that the SSPCs lie intermediate to the transition of chondrocyte to osteoblast. We conclude that hypertrophic chondrocytes dedifferentiate to this progenitor stage before further differentiation. Overall design: 10X Genomics Single cell RNA-sequencing of total bone e16.5 reporter positive cells.