Figure 4.
snRNA-seq of day 14 unilateral ureteral obstruction (UUO) kidney identifies rare cell types and and intercellular communication networks. (A, inset) Periodic acid–Schiff stain of UUO kidney showing dilated and cast-filled tubules and expanded and fibrotic interstitium. (A) The t-distributed stochastic neighbor embedding (tSNE) shows 17 separate cell clusters. (B) Projection of cell cycle state onto the tSNE, revealing limited proliferation primarily in the proliferating proximal tubule cluster. (C) Violin plot showing cluster-specific gene expression. (D) Dock10 expression through the proximal tubule but enriched within the dedifferentiating proximal tubule cluster. (E) Three stromal clusters could be identified, including juxtaglomerular apparatus cells expressing Endra and the stem cell marker Hopx. Immunohistochemistry images are from the Human Protein Atlas (https://www.proteinatlas.org/). (F) Cell-specific ligand-receptor analysis reveals intercellular signaling pathways. (G) Known and new intercellular signaling within the tubulintersitial compartment as revealed by this snRNA-seq analysis. Act., activating; CD-PC, collecting duct-principal cell; CNT, connecting tubule; DCT, distal convoluted tubule; Dediff., dedifferentiated; DL + tAL, descending limb + thin ascending limb; EC, endothelial cell; Fib., fibroblast; IC, intercalated cell; JGA, juxtaglomerular apparatus; MΦ, macrophage; PC, principal cell; Pod, podocyte; Prolif, proliferating; PT, proximal tubule; TAL, thick ascending limb; UMI, unique molecular identifier.