Single-cell RNA-seq of the embryonic zebrafish heads from wild-type siblings and betaPix CRISPR mutants at 1 dpf and 2 dpf

Proper establishment of the blood–brain barrier and maintenance of
cerebrovascular integrity require precise coordination among neural and
vascular cell types during early vertebrate development. To define the
transcriptional programs underlying these processes and the role of glial
betaPix, we generated a comprehensive single-cell RNA-seq dataset from
embryonic heads of wild-type siblings and betaPix CRISPR mutants at 1 and
2 days post-fertilization (dpf). Comparative analyses revealed that loss
of betaPix selectively disrupted transcriptional programs in glial and
neuronal progenitors, including down-regulation of microtubule-associated
stathmin signaling and pro-angiogenic transcription factors Zfhx3/4. These
changes highlight betaPix as an upstream regulator of PAK1–Stathmin and
Zfhx3/4–Vegfaa pathways required for coordinated glial migration and
angiogenesis. This single-cell resource thus provides a developmental
framework for understanding how glial betaPix contributes to blood–brain
barrier formation and vascular integrity. To support broad community use,
we provide our raw datasets, enabling the discovery of candidate
regulators of cerebrovascular stability in vivo.