Single cell RNA sequencing for mouse femoral artery

Rapid regeneration of smooth muscle after vascular injury is essential for maintaining proper artery function. The current view holds that pre-existing smooth muscle proliferate and expand in responding to vascular injury, contributing to virtually all new smooth muscle cells. Whether resident vascular stem cells for smooth muscle exist remains controversial and their putative functional role for artery repair and regeneration is elusive. Here we performed cell fate mapping and single cell RNA sequencing to identify Sca1+ vascular stem cells (VSCs) residing in the adventitial layer of artery wall. To examine the cellular components of Sca1+ cells, individual cells were isolated from the femoral artery by enzymatic digestion and processed for single-cell RNA-sequencing technology.血管损伤后平滑肌的快速再生对维持动脉正常功能至关重要。当前主流观点认为，预存的平滑肌细胞会响应血管损伤信号发生增殖与扩张，几乎所有新生平滑肌细胞均来源于此类细胞。针对平滑肌的驻留血管干细胞是否真实存在这一问题，目前仍存在争议，而这类假想干细胞在动脉修复与再生中的潜在功能作用也尚未明晰。本研究通过细胞命运图谱（cell fate mapping）与单细胞RNA测序（single cell RNA sequencing）技术，鉴定出了定居于动脉壁外膜层的Sca1+血管干细胞（VSCs）。为探究Sca1+细胞的细胞组成，研究团队采用酶消化法从股动脉中分离单个细胞，并借助单细胞RNA测序技术完成相关分析。