Single-cell transcriptome of antler stem cells from antlerogenic periosteum

Background: Antler regeneration, a stem cell-based epimorphic process, has potential for applications as a valuable model for regenerative medicine. A pool of antler stem cells (ASCs) for antler generation and regeneration is located in the antlerogenic periosteum (AP). However, this antler stem cell pool has not been fully characterized. Finding: We produced a comprehensive transcriptome dataset at the single-cell level for antler stem cells based on the 10x Genomics platform. We generated ~252 million sequence reads representing a large RNA-Seq dataset for 4,731 cells from an individual AP tissue sample. These cells were assigned to four significant clusters. Further screening identified 16 key stem cell markers, of which four mesenchymal (CD29, CD90, vimentin, nucleophosmin) and one embryonic (CD9) stem cell markers showed high expression levels. Our results suggest ASCs are intermediate type between embryonic and mesenchymal stem cells and will help to identify and purify specific ASC types or subtypes. Conclusion: Our results provide the first comprehensive transcriptome dataset at the single-cell level for ASCs, which may hold the key to unveil the secrets about why antlers are the only mammalian organ to fully regenerate.