Single-cell RNA Sequencing of Oral Mucosa-derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells

What is it about?

Mesenchymal stromal cells are a heterogeneous mixture of spindle-shaped cells, with only a small proportion of true stem cells that can differentiate into various cell types. In fact, given the ease of access and efficient culture ability of mesenchymal stromal cells from the oral mucosa, these cells are increasingly being explored as a source of regenerative therapy. However, current bulk RNA sequencing methods are unable to recognize specific cell surface markers to distinguish rarer cell sub-populations, such as mesenchymal stem cells. Addressing this knowledge gap, researchers from Israel isolated mesenchymal stromal cells from either the masticatory or the lining oral mucosa and employed single-cell RNA sequencing to determine the intra-population heterogeneity of these two types of cells at single-cell resolution, on the basis of gene expression pattern analysis. The study revealed several distinct cell clusters, which were annotated as fibroblasts, smooth muscle cells, and mesenchymal stem cells. Interestingly, cells derived from masticatory mucosa were higher enriched with stem cells, leading to the conclusion that masticatory mucosa is a preferable source for cell-based therapies. To sum up, this study built a high-quality dataset that maps the molecular diversity of oral mucosa-derived mesenchymal stromal cells. Moreover, it also provides a basis for isolating mesenchymal stem cells to facilitate cell-based tissue regeneration in the future.

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Photo by CDC on Unsplash

Photo by CDC on Unsplash