A Single-Cell Atlas Of Human Pediatric Liver Reveals Age-Related Hepatic Gene Signatures

To investigate the spatial dynamics of immune cells in the liver, particularly myeloid cells, we utilized the Xenium spatial transcriptomics platform to examine gene zonation patterns in pediatric and adult livers. We explored the expression of 477 genes in two pediatric and three adult livers (one adult sampled 3 times, for a total of 7 Xenium samples). Our analysis revealed significant zonation of gene expression within Kupffer cells (KC-like). The zonation of KC-like marker genes suggests that the differential gene expression observed in the dissociated pediatric liver map may be due to shifts in the spatial organization of KC-like cells in the pediatric liver. These findings underscore the importance of spatial transcriptomics in understanding age-related differences in immune cell behavior within the liver and provide new insights into the complex spatial dynamics of myeloid cells in pediatric versus adult livers. 2 pediatric liver samples from 2 individuals; 2 adult liver samples from 2 individuals; 3 samples from one individual including a bile duct hamartoma