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.