Using scalpel and tweezers, the maxillary gingival neck was carefully excised. Following dissection, the mouse gingivae were cut in small pieces and transferred to a 15ml falcon tube with PBS + 2% FBS with 2 mg/ml of Collagenase Type II and 1 mg/ml of DNAse Type I (Merck), and incubated for 20–30 min at 37 °C shaking (120 rpm) with homogenization of the suspension every 3-4 minutes. After incubation, the cell suspensions were toped up to 12ml using using PBS + 2% FBS and filtered in using a 40µm cell strainer. Library was performed according to the manufacturer instructions (10x Genomics)