Figure 2

Transcriptome analysis confirms identity of undifferentiated NP-derived progenitors as basal cells. (a) NP basal cells from newborn subjects (preterm n = 4 and term n = 4) for bulk RNAseq analysis (left); P63 immunostaining depicting similar signal intensity of confluent preterm and term undifferentiated progenitor basal cells. (b) Heat map showing expression of known markers of human airway basal cells in the RNAseq dataset from preterm and term cultured NP progenitors before differentiation and after 21 days of differentiation in ALI conditions. (c) Principal Component Analysis (PCA) of preterm and term cultures of NP progenitors prior to and after differentiation (ALI day 21) showing clear separation between samples in undifferentiated but not in differentiated cultures.