Fig. 2: Heterogeneity of utricle sensory epithelium.
From: Revealing heterogeneity and damage response in the adult human utricle
a UMAP plot showing 967 cells of a utricular sensory epithelium (scUntr-2), where six supporting cells and two hair cell clusters are identified based on transcriptional differences and established markers; validated genes are labelled in grey. The proportional stacked bar graph inset indicates the composition of each cluster coloured by the original cell type. The number of cells in each cluster is indicated in brackets in the inset legend. b Heatmap of differential gene expression across cell clusters in (a), coloured by relative expression: -2 (magenta), 0 (black), and 2 (yellow). The top 10 marker genes per cluster highlight distinct transcriptional profiles; see Supplementary Data 2a for the full list. Colour bars represent each cell cluster. c UMAP and violin plots coloured by cell cluster display the expression of established markers used for cell annotation: MYO7A for sensory hair cells, and SOX2 for supporting cells and type II hair cells. d Dot plot illustrating the expression of representative marker genes (x-axis) for each main cell type (y-axis), along with established markers such as MYO7A, OCM, SOX2, and OTOL1; we also show the expression of specific markers for HC type II (CALB1) and SC-like cells (CRYAB and ANKRD1). Dot size corresponds to the percentage of cells within each cell type that express the marker, and colour represents the average gene expression (blue-low, yellow-high). e Dot plot showing the expression of SC validated genes, and validation of supporting cell populations using in situ hybridization; each dot represents a single transcript. Selected cluster-enriched genes CYR61 for SC-2, MANSC4 for SC-3, and PIGR for SC-5 were validated, n ≥ 3. High-magnification panels highlight the colocalization of the three cluster-defining genes (green) with SOX2 (magenta) in representative nuclei (blue), marked with a white circle in the images, low-magnification panels. Supporting cells expressing these cluster-enriched genes are interspersed in the sensory epithelium.
