Generation, transcriptome profiling, and functional validation of single cells from cone-enriched human retinal organoids

The macula of the retina has a high ratio of cones to rods and is critical for central vision and visual acuity. Here we report the generation, transcriptome profiling, and functional validation of single cells from cone-enriched human retinal organoids differentiated from hESCs. Single-cell RNA-seq of 8-month retinal organoids identified clusters of cone and rod photoreceptors and confirmed the cone enrichment initially revealed by immunostaining. Collectively, we have established cone-enriched retinal organoids and a reference of transcriptomes that are rich resources for retinal studies. To globally characterize the transcriptomes during human retinal cell differentiation, we performed single cell RNA sequencing of 8M retinal organoids.