The landscape of mouse epididymal cells defined by the single-cell RNA-Seq

We reported the cell composition and segmental expression differences in three epididymis segments using single-cell RNA sequencing. A total of 13,949 cells were detected, which were further clustered into eight cell populations identified with all known constituent cells of mouse epididymis including principle cell, basal cell, clear/narrow cell and immune cells. Through the study of 35 known epididymal proteins linking to sperm function phenotypes (EPSFPs), we found they were mainly expressed in principle cells and also revealed their segmental specific expression patterns. Notably, a part of EPSFPs was associated with sperm protection and predominantly localized in caput principal cells, whereas some EPSFPs, highly expressed in corpus and cauda, were served as the regulating molecular for the sperm functions such as motility, capacitation or acrosome reactions.In addition, focused analyses uncovered 5 subtypes of the principal cell. Intriguingly, Prc5, the subpopulation of principle cells, was almost only existed in the caput epididymis. Overall design: 56 days old of wild-type C57Bl/6J mice were sacrified, then the epididymis were dissected and divided into three regions (caput, corpus, and cauda)