Identification and Characterization of Cellular Heterogeneity within the Developing Renal Interstitium

Kidney formation requires the coordinated growth of multiple cell types including the collecting ducts, nephrons, vasculature and interstitium. We show that during development, the interstitium is a highly heterogeneous, patterned population of cells that occupies distinct positions correlated to the adjacent parenchyma. Our analysis indicates that the heterogeneity is not a mere reflection of different stages in a linear developmental trajectory but instead represents several novel differentiated cell states. Further, we find that beta-catenin has a cell autonomous role in the development of a medullary subset of the interstitium and that this non-autonomously affects the development of the adjacent epithelia. Overall design: We performed single cell RNA sequencing on Foxd1-positive cells purified by fluorescence activated cell sorting (FACS) from Foxd1Cre;Rosa-Tomato E18.5 mouse kidneys.