A widespread cell atlas of pig skin from embryonic development to postnatal aging

Skin is the largest barrier organ with complex structure and function. We investigated the transcriptional dynamics of pig skin during development and aging at single-cell resolution. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we profiled the transcriptomes of 443,529 skin cells derived from 30 individuals of 10 developmental time points staged between 56 days of gestation and 7 years old. Our analysis identified the dynamic changes in the cellular transcriptional profile of eight skin cell types at different developmental stages, exhibiting time-dependent skin cell heterogeneity. Skin cells of Chenghua pigs from 10 developmental time points staged, including 56, 66, 76, 86, 105 days of gestation, 3 days old, 90 days old, 180 days old, 3 years od and 7 years old, was obtained by skin tissue disintegration and analysed using scRNA-seq.