Single cell transcriptomics reveal disrupted kidney filter cell-cell interactions after early and selective podocyte injury

We recently demonstrated that podocyte ablation via doxycycline-inducible deletion of an essential endogenous molecule, CTCF (iCTCFpod-/-), is sufficient to drive progressive CKD. However, the earliest events connecting podocyte injury to disrupted intercellular communication within the kidney filter remain unclear. Here we performed single-cell RNA sequencing of kidney tissue from iCTCFpod-/- mice after one week of doxycycline induction to generate a map of the earliest transcriptional effects of podocyte injury on cell-cell interactions at single cell resolution Overall design: Doxycycline was administered via drinking water (50g/L) to four animals of each genotype, WT and iCTCFpod-/- (KO), for one week. After one week, kidneys were harvest and glomeruli isolated for single-cell RNA sequencing. Some samples were submitted with technical replicates to maximize the number of cells that were sequenced per sample without overloading the 10X chip.