Hepatic Single-Cell RNA Sequencing

We are part of the Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center Academic- and Research Committee-funded Pediatric Cell Atlas. The PCA is an ambitious effort to build a detailed molecular reference map of all cell populations in major organ systems of the human body. A principal goal is to establish essential reusable infrastructure for the creation of comprehensive three-dimensional organ maps; the Huppert lab will be focusing on liver. In both normal and diseased liver, we will produce transcriptomic profiles through single-cell and single-nuclear RNA sequencing to define both known and novel cell markers to be used for deep three-dimensional imaging showing differences in marker expression of biliary tree segments within the liver, connection of hepatocyte canalicular membranes to the developing biliary system, and the neighboring niche supporting cells.

In conjunction with the PCA bioinformatics core, we will be able to 1) define known and novel cell populations and subtly distinct cell states, 2) identify and label specific cell populations for mechanistic and functional evaluation, and 3) generate functional liver organoids through collaboration with Dr. Takanori Takebe. This work will leverage our existing mouse single-cell transcriptomic datasets generated using the 10x Genomics platform.