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PERICYTE-LIKE CELLS UNDERGO TRANSCRIPTIONAL REPROGRAMMING AND DISTINCT FUNCTIONAL ADAPTATIONS IN ACUTE LUNG INJURY

ABSTRACT: Background: We previously reported on the role of pericyte-like cells as functional sentinel immune cells in lung injury. However, much about the biology of pericytes in lung injury remains unknown. Lung pericyte-like cells are well-positioned to sense disruption to the epithelial barrier and coordinate local inflammatory responses due to their anatomic niche within the alveoli. In this report, we characterized transcriptional responses and functional changes in pericyte-like cells following activation by alveolar components from injured and uninjured lungs. Methods: We purified pericyte-like cells from lung digests using PDGFR_ as a selection marker and expanded them in culture as previously described (1). We induced sterile acute lung injury in mice with recombinant human Fas ligand (rhFasL) instillation followed by mechanical ventilation (1). We then collected bronchoalveolar lavage fluid (BALF) from injured and uninjured mice. Purified pericyte-like cells in culture were exposed to growth media only (control), BALF from uninjured mice, and BALF from injured mice for 6 and 24 h. RNA collected from pericyte-like cells for each of these treatment conditions underwent genome-wide sequencing using RNA-seq. Targets of interest identified by bioinformatics analysis of RNA-seq data were validated using in vitro and in vivo assays. Results: We observed robust global transcriptional changes in pericyte-like cells following treatment with uninjured and injured BALF at 6 h, but this response persisted for 24 h only after exposure to injured BALF. Functional enrichment analysis of pericytes treated with injured BALF revealed activation of immuno-inflammatory, cell migration and angiogenesis-related pathways, whereas processes associated with tissue development and remodeling were down-regulated. We validated select targets in the inflammatory, angiogenesis-related, and cell migratory pathways using functional assays in vitro and in vivo. Conclusion: Lung pericyte-like cells are highly responsive to alveolar compartment content from both uninjured and injured lungs, but injured BALF elicits a more sustained response. The inflammatory, angiogenic, and migratory changes exhibited by activated pericyte-like cells underscore the phenotypic plasticity of these specialized stromal cells in the setting of acute lung injury.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE137363 | GEO | 2020/10/31

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Pericytes have been implicated in regulation of inflammatory, reparative, fibrogenic and angiogenic responses in several different organs and pathologic conditions. Although the adult mammalian heart contains abundant pericytes, their fate and involvement in myocardial disease remains unknown. We used NG2Dsred;PDGFRaEGFP pericyte-fibroblast dual reporter mice and inducible NG2CreER mice to study the fate and phenotypic modulation of pericytes in a model of myocardial infarction. The transcriptomic profile of pericyte-derived fibroblasts was studied using PCR arrays. The transcriptomic profile of NG2 lineage cells (pericytes) was studied in control and infarcted hearts using single cell RNA-sequencing analysis. The role of TGF-b signaling in regulation of pericyte phenotype in vivo was investigated using pericyte-specific Tgfbr2 knockout mice. In vitro, the effects of TGF-b were studied in cultured human placental pericytes.In normal mouse hearts, NG2 and PDGFRa identified distinct non-overlapping populations of pericytes and fibroblasts respectively. Following myocardial infarction, a population of cells expressing both pericyte and fibroblast markers emerged. These cells expressed large amounts of extracellular matrix (ECM) genes. Lineage tracing demonstrated that in the infarcted region, a subpopulation of pericytes underwent fibroblast conversion. Single cell RNA-seq experiments demonstrated expansion and diversification of pericyte-derived cells in the infarct, associated with emergence of subpopulations exhibiting accentuated matrix gene synthesis. In vitro studies and the profile of pericyte-derived fibroblasts identified TGF-b as a potentially causative mediator in fibrogenic activation of infarct pericytes. However, pericyte-specific Tgfbr2 disruption had no significant effects on myofibroblast infiltration and collagen deposition in the infarct. Pericyte-specific TGF-b signaling was involved in vascular maturation, mediating formation of a mural cell coat investing infarct neovessels. These reparative effects of infarct pericytes protected the infarcted heart from dilative remodeling.

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PERICYTE-LIKE CELLS UNDERGO TRANSCRIPTIONAL REPROGRAMMING AND DISTINCT FUNCTIONAL ADAPTATIONS IN ACUTE LUNG INJURY

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