Single cell RNA-Seq mouse skin during the initial and exhaustion stage of mechanical stretch expansion

Our understanding of how skin compartments coordinate in response to mechanical stretch induced regeneration is limited. After establishing a mouse scalp expansion model and defining the regenerative exhaustion phenotype, we collected corresponding expanded skin samples (Ctrl as DPE0, DPE8, DPE36) and performed single-cell RNA transcriptomic sequencing. We characterized the impaired proliferative and differentiation capacities, as well as compromised cellular adhesion in the basal stem cells of the interfollicular epidermis in the DPE36 samples. Additionally, we observed upregulation of Mmp2 and an imbalance in ECM degradation in the dermis of DPE36 samples. Our analysis provides a temporal transcriptomic atlas of the skin's mechanoresponsive mechanisms and sheds light on how a weakened dermal niche impacts stem cell stemness, ultimately leading to regenerative failure. Droplet Based Single Cell RNA sequencing libraries were generated for 3 control as DPE0, 3 DPE8 and 3 DPE36 adult moue skin samples using the 10x Genomics Chromium Platform and sequenced on the Illumina Novaseq 6000 and PE150.