Nature Communications (Mar 2016)

Single-cell differences in matrix gene expression do not predict matrix deposition

  • Allison J. Cote,
  • Claire M. McLeod,
  • Megan J. Farrell,
  • Patrick D. McClanahan,
  • Margaret C. Dunagin,
  • Arjun Raj,
  • Robert L. Mauck

DOI
https://doi.org/10.1038/ncomms10865
Journal volume & issue
Vol. 7, no. 1
pp. 1 – 13

Abstract

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Regenerative tissue engineering with mesenchymal stem cells is hampered by bulk methods of assessing differentiation status and a general assumption that expression of individual markers of stem cell differentiation correlate with functional capacity. Here the authors debunk this assumption by applying single-cell techniques to disassociate aggrecan mRNA abundance and matrix deposition.