BioProject

In the inner ear, cochlear and vestibular sensory epithelia utilize grossly similar cell types to transduce different stimuli: sound and acceleration. More...

In the inner ear, cochlear and vestibular sensory epithelia utilize grossly similar cell types to transduce different stimuli: sound and acceleration.  Each individual sensory epithelium is composed of highly heterogeneous populations of cells based on physiological and anatomical criteria. However, limited numbers of each cell type have impeded transcriptional characterization. Here we generated transcriptomes for 301 single cells from the utricular and cochlear sensory epithelia of newborn mice to circumvent this challenge. Cluster analysis indicates distinct profiles for each of the major sensory epithelial cell types, as well as less distinct subpopulations. Asynchrony within utricles allows reconstruction of the temporal progression of cell-type specific differentiation and suggests possible plasticity among cells at the sensory-nonsensory boundary. Comparisons of cell types from utricles and cochleae demonstrate divergence between auditory and vestibular cells despite a common origin. These results provide significant insights into the developmental processes that form unique inner ear cell types. Overall design: mRNA-seq profiles from 301 single cells and bulk population controls from postnatal day 1 mouse utricle and cochlear epithelia were analyzed Please note that the *PhenoData.txt files provide additional metadata that are otherwise not easily accessible from the record, including which sample cluster they were identified as belonging to within the associated manuscript. Less...