Conclusions
Our results revealed the gene expression characteristics of APCC at single-cell resolution and show that some ZG cells remodel to APCC.
Methods
Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) of 2 adult adrenals was performed.
Objective
This study aimed to analyze the transcriptome of APCCs at single-cell resolution and infer the developmental trajectory.
Results
Immunohistochemical analyses confirmed the 2 adrenals had APCCs. scRNA-seq data of 2928 adrenal cells were obtained and 1765 adrenocortical cells were identified based on unsupervised clustering and the marker gene expression. The adrenocortical cells were divided into 6 clusters, of which 3 clusters (923 cells) were composed of APCC/ZG cells. By further subclustering, the APCC/ZG cells were divided into 3 clusters (clusters C1, C2, and C3), we finally identified APCC cluster (C3) and ZG cluster (C1). Cluster C2 seemed to be ZG-to-ZF transitional cells. RNA velocity analysis inferred the developmental direction from cluster ZG-cluster-C1 to APCC-cluster-C3. The scRNA-seq additionally revealed that many CYP11B2-positive cells were positive for CYP11B1 and/or CYP17A1, which were essential for cortisol but not for aldosterone production. Conclusions: Our results revealed the gene expression characteristics of APCC at single-cell resolution and show that some ZG cells remodel to APCC.