Defining Anorectal Transition Zone Heterogeneity Using Single-Cell RNA Sequencing.

ABSTRACT

Special regions called transition zones (TZs) are found at numerous places in the body. TZs represent the junction between two different types of epithelia and are located between the esophagus and the stomach, in the cervix, in the eye, and between the anal canal and the rectum. TZ is a heterogeneous population, and the detailed characterization of its populations requires an analysis at the single-cell level. In this chapter, we provide a protocol to do single-cell RNA sequencing primary analysis of anal canal, TZ, and rectum epithelia.