Single cell multiome analysis of mouse achilles tendon. Mus musculus strain:C57BL/6

Tendons are fibrous tissues that connect bones to muscles. It is believed that tendons mature after birth through exercise and load-bearing activities. During this process, tendon cells are thought to be essential for tendon maturation by producing collagen and extracellular matrix components through the activation of master transcription factors such as Mkx and Scx. To investigate this, Achilles tendons from 2-week-old and 6-week-old mice were analyzed using single-cell RNA sequencing and single-nuclei ATAC sequencing to compare the transitions in cell populations and changes in gene expression between immature and mature tendons. Furthermore, the study aimed to identify tendon progenitor cells, which are thought to be more abundant in immature tendon tissue, and to search for useful marker genes for detecting these cell populations.