Expression status transition ofNOTCH1accompanies chromatin remodeling in human early retinal progenitor cells

Abstract

Notch signaling-mediated differentiation is dependent on the fine-tuned expression regulation. Especially, the diversification processes of the initially homogenous undifferentiated cells were well-documented for this signaling pathway. Although this signaling pathway is involved in the development of mammalian retina, for example, it is unclear how the expression levels of the Notch signaling components were regulated. Here, we analyzed the publicly available datasets of single-cell RNA-seq and single-cell ATAC-seq from human fetus retina at days 53, 59 and 78 to examine the status of the mRNA expressions and chromatin accessibilities of the Notch signaling components. We found that Notch signaling components were expressed in the undifferentiated cells and that the chromatin accessibilities in those cells were different among themselves. This finding revealed the epigenetic heterogeneity among the differentiating cells during Notch signaling-driven cellular dynamics.