Dissecting human embryonic skeletal stem cell ontogeny by single-cell transcriptomic and functional analyses

Mapping the transcriptional landscape of human embryonic skeletogenesis at single-cell resolution during limb bud and primary ossification center (POC) formation. We found significant heterogeneity of stromal cells within the limb bud mesenchyme that specified proximal-distal and anterior-posterior patterning. Embryonic skeletal stem and progenitor cells first appeared during POC formation, which were highly enriched by CADM1 expression and could differentiate into osteoblasts, chondrocytes and periosteal mesenchymal stromal cells. We performed droplet-based scRNA-seq of 42,857 cells to firstly construct a molecular landscape of skeletogenesis in human embryos