Expression profiling of Defa6+ cells isolated from Apc-deficient colon tumor using single-cell RNA-Seq

Aberrant activation of the canonical Wnt pathway underlines the development and growth of intestinal tumors. The Apc-min (multiple intestinal neoplasia) mouse strain carries a single nucleotide mutation in one allele of the Apc tumor suppressor gene. Random deactivation of the second allele occurs during the life and results in the formation of multiple adenomas in the small intestine with occasional colonic occurence. The Defa6 promoter is active in adult small intestinal Paneth cells and its activation has been observed also in human colonic adenomas. To investigate the nature of Defa6+ colon adenoma cells, we used the Apc-min Rosa26-tdTomato Defa6-iCre mouse strain. In this strain, cells with an active Defa6 promoter are marked by expression of a red fluorescent protein (tdTomato). We performed gene expression profiling of Defa6-tdTomato+ cells isolated from mouse colon tumors.