bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.09.195438; this version posted July 10, 2020. The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not certified by peer review) is the author/funder. All rights reserved. No reuse allowed without permission. A single cell atlas of human cornea that defines its development, limbal stem and progenitor cells and the interactions with the limbal niche Joseph Collin1+, Rachel Queen 1+, Darin Zerti 1,2+, Sanja Bojic 1, Nicky Moyse 3, Marina Moya Molina 1, Chunbo Yang1, Gary Reynolds 1, Rafiqul Hussain 1, Jonathan M Coxhead 1, Steven Lisgo 1, Deborah Henderson 1, Agatha Joseph 4, Paul Rooney 4, Saurabh Ghosh 5, Che Connon 1, Muzlifah Haniffa 1, Francisco Figueiredo 6, Lyle Armstrong 1 and Majlinda Lako1* 1. Biosciences Institute, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Newcastle University, UK 2. Present address: Microscopy Centre and Department of Applied Clinical Sciences and Biotechnology, University of L’Aquila, Italy 3. Newcastle Cellular Therapies Facility, Newcastle University and Newcastle upon Tyne Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust, UK 4. NHS Blood and Transplant Tissue and Eye Services, Liverpool, UK 5. Royal Victoria Infirmary, Sunderland, UK 6. Department of Ophthalmology, Royal Victoria Infirmary and Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK + these authors contributed equally *author for correspondence (
[email protected]) Keywords: embryonic and fetal eye, cornea, conjunctiva, ocular surface, single cell RNA- Seq, single cell ATAC-Seq, LSC dysplasia, keratoconus, limbal epithelial expansion, limbal stem cells, transit amplifying cells. 1 bioRxiv preprint doi: https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.07.09.195438; this version posted July 10, 2020.