Family single-cell atlases reveal pig pregnancy and fetal growth restriction critical cell types

Science 2026

View at publisher
Authors: Liping Cai, Qing Zhang, Tianxiong Yao, Xiaoxiao Zou, Lei Xie, Siyu Yang, Yanyuan Xiao, Fei Huang, Zhiwei Peng, Jiawen Yang, Jer‐Shyung Huang, Qiqi Jing
+87 more Ziqi Ling, Min Zheng, Chuanmin Qiao, Jinyuan Wu, Jiaqi Chen, Tao Jiang, Qin Liu, Min Liu, Zhe Chen, Jingquan Li, Hui Jiang, Haoyun Jiang, Zuoquan Chen, Yaya Liao, Yizhong Huang, Li Li, Yunyan Zhou, Zhou Zhang, Chao Yin, Yu Ye, Hui Yang, Biao Chen, Zhong Wang, Huanfa Gong, Dong Chen, Cong Huang, Xinkai Tong, Zhimin Zhou, Hao Fu, Yingchun Sun, Xiao Sun, Min Yan, Lin Wu, Shuqi Xiong, Yaxiang Wang, Xinke Xie, Mengqing Zhou, Xiaodong Liu, Xianhua Xie, Fusheng Wu, Zifeng Liu, Mei Ge, Sanya Xiong, C. Li, Tao Shen, Yuxin Liu, Xi Tang, Xiaolong Chang, Siyi Liu, Chuangang Yu, Naixiang Yu, Zhang Hu, D.-Q. Cui, Jiahong Zhong, Sha Liu, Jianchao Hu, Yang Wen, Weiwei Zhou, Guanyue Wei, Shiyao Lin, Yiwen Xiahou, Liqing Chen, Jianjun Li, Ruirong Liu, Xiaoyun Chen, Yujie Shu, Feng Chen, Chao Wei, Xiaofen Hu, Yong Li, Yong Hou, Qingjie Zeng, Jun Gao, Ying Su, Jing Li, Junwu Ma, Yuanmei Guo, C. Y. Chen, Shijun Xiao, Huashui Ai, Zhiyan Zhang, Weiwei Liu, Qiang Yang, Yuyun Xing, Lin Rao, Bin Yang, Lusheng Huang
DOI: 10.1126/science.adu7265
Cited by: 2
References: 98

Abstract

Although massive cell atlases are already available, it is still a challenge to obtain an atlas of all tissues within a single body, especially in fetuses and pregnant mothers. We present a transcriptomic atlas of 2.56 million single cells covering 115 and 119 tissues from one fetal pig and its pregnant mother, respectively. We found that a cluster of heart capillary endothelial cells with enhanced fatty acid transit capability was enriched for pregnancy but restored after gestation. We also deciphered that l-leucine transport insufficiency in the trophoblast causes fetal growth restriction by reducing a muscle type II myofiber subcluster. Our "all-from-one" strategy enabled the identification of tissue cell type-specific transcription factors and provided insights into pregnancy heart adaptation and fetal growth restriction.

Fields of Study & Subjects

Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics Congenital heart defects research Pregnancy and preeclampsia studies

Publication details

Journal / source
Science
Publisher
American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Volume
391
Issue
6792
Pages
eadu7265–eadu7265
Publication date
26 March 2026
Language
EN