Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42680748›Full record

ArticleNature communications2026

Single-cell profiling decodes patagium development in gliding mammal.

YouFu Lin, ShuangXian Huang, LiFeng Che, HaoZhe Zhao, YaJun Wang, MingFei Yang, Cheng Ai, Jue Ruan, XiaoPing Wang, Li Yu

Erratum issuedAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Nature communications, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. An erratum has been issued. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

YouFu Lin *School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China.
ShuangXian Huang *School of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China.
LiFeng Che *Shaanxi Institute of Zoology, Xi'an, China.
HaoZhe ZhaoSchool of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China.
YaJun WangSchool of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China.
MingFei YangSchool of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China.
Cheng AiState Key Laboratory of Genome and Multi-omics Technologies, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, China.
Jue RuanState Key Laboratory of Genome and Multi-omics Technologies, Shenzhen Branch, Guangdong Laboratory for Lingnan Modern Agriculture, Genome Analysis Laboratory of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs, Agricultural Genomics Institute at Shenzhen, Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences, Shenzhen, China.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-3713-3192
XiaoPing WangSchool of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China. wangxp@ynu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0009-0001-5882-6011
Li YuSchool of Life Sciences, Yunnan University, Kunming, China. yuli@ynu.edu.cn.ORCID http://orcid.org/0000-0003-1891-9501

Funding

National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 32230013National Natural Science Foundation of China (National Science Foundation of China) 32360120
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

The gliding patagium represents a key adaptation for mammalian flight, but its cellular development remains unexplored. Using single-nucleus RNA sequencing of embryonic flying squirrel patagium and dorsal skin, we construct a single-cell atlas of patagium development and identify two distinct fibroblast subpopulations (Fp2 and Fr) highly enriched in the patagium. These fibroblasts are characterized by the patagium upregulation of Wnt5a, Fgf7, and Fgf10, and are associated with patagium morphogenesis through dermal-epidermal putative communication interactions between dermal fibroblasts (Fp2 and Fr) and epithelial basal keratinocytes. Specifically, Fp2 fibroblasts are potentially involved in distal dermal condensation and epithelial thickening together with elevated Wnt5a expression, while both Fp2 and Fr fibroblasts could play a role in epithelial polarization and thickening through Fgf7 and Fgf10, as suggested by ex vivo assays. Our data suggest that gliding patagium development results from the co-option of conserved WNT and FGF signaling pathways within a specialized fibroblast-epithelial context, illustrating how modifications of conserved developmental programs give rise to derived morphological traits.

Indexed as

Single-Cell AnalysisAnimalsFibroblast Growth Factor 10Fibroblast Growth Factor 7FibroblastsGene Expression Regulation, DevelopmentalKeratinocytesMorphogenesisSignal TransductionSingle-Cell Gene Expression AnalysisWnt-5a ProteinFibroblast Growth Factor 10Fibroblast Growth Factor 7Wnt-5a Protein

Identifiers

PMID42680748
PMCPMC13534578

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.