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Discovery of New Markers for Haemogenic Endothelium and Haematopoietic Progenitors in the Mouse Yolk Sac

Diez-Pinel, Guillermo; Muratore, Alessandro; Ruhrberg, Christiana; Canu, Giovanni; (2026) Discovery of New Markers for Haemogenic Endothelium and Haematopoietic Progenitors in the Mouse Yolk Sac. Journal of Developmental Biology , 14 (1) , Article 4. 10.3390/jdb14010004. Green open access

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Abstract

Erythro-myeloid progenitors (EMPs) originate from the haemogenic endothelium in the yolk sac via an endothelial-to-haematopoietic transition (EHT) to generate blood and immune cells that support embryo development. Yet, the transitory nature of EHT and the limited availability of molecular markers have constrained our understanding of the origin, identity, and differentiation dynamics of EMPs. Here, we have refined the annotation of yolk sac haemato-vascular populations in publicly available single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) datasets from mouse embryos to identify novel molecular markers of haemogenic endothelium and EMPs. By sub-clustering key cell populations followed by pseudotime analysis, we refined cluster annotations and then reconstructed differentiation trajectories. Subsequent differential gene expression analysis between clusters identified novel cell surface markers for haemogenic endothelial cells (Fxyd5 and Scarf1) and EMPs (Fcer1g, Tyrobp, and Mctp1). Further, we have identified candidate signalling and metabolic pathways that may regulate yolk sac haematopoietic emergence and differentiation. The specificity of FXYD5, SCARF1, and FCER1G for haemogenic endothelium and EMPs was validated by immunostaining of the mouse yolk sac. These insights into the transcriptional dynamics in the yolk sac should support future investigation of EHT and haematopoietic differentiation during early mammalian development.

Type: Article
Title: Discovery of New Markers for Haemogenic Endothelium and Haematopoietic Progenitors in the Mouse Yolk Sac
Open access status: An open access version is available from UCL Discovery
DOI: 10.3390/jdb14010004
Publisher version: https://doi.org/10.3390/jdb14010004
Language: English
Additional information: Copyright © 2026 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license, https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
Keywords: Haemogenic endothelium; erythro-myeloid progenitors; EMPs; haematopoietic development; haematopoietic differentiation; yolk sac; mouse embryo; single-cell transcriptomic; Fxyd5/Dysadherin; Scarf1; Fcer1g
UCL classification: UCL
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences
UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Brain Sciences > Institute of Ophthalmology
URI: https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10219800
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