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Endothelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Neonatal Hyperoxic Lung Injury: Role of sex as a biological variable

ABSTRACT: Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) is characterized by an arrest in alveolarization, abnormal vascular development and variable interstitial fibroproliferation in the premature lung. Endothelial to mesenchymal transition (Endo-MT) may be a source of pathologic fibrosis in many organ systems. Whether Endo-MT contributes to the pathogenesis of BPD is not known. We tested the hypothesis that pulmonary endothelial cells will show increased expression of Endo-MT markers upon exposure to hyperoxia and that sex as a biological variable will modulate differences in expression. WT and Cdh5-PAC CreERT2 (endothelial reporter) neonatal male and female mice (C57BL6) were exposed to hyperoxia (0.95 FiO2) either during the saccular stage of lung development (95% FiO2; PND1-5) or through the saccular and early alveolar stages of lung development (75% FiO2; PND1-14). Expression of Endo-MT markers were measured in whole lung and endothelial cell mRNA. Sorted lung endothelial cells were subjected to bulk RNA-Seq. We show that exposure of the neonatal lung to hyperoxia leads to upregulation of key markers of EndoMT Neonatal male mice show higher expression of genes related to EndoMT. Furthermore, using lung sc-RNAseq data from neonatal lung we were able to show that xxx. Markers related to Endo-MT are upregulated in the neonatal lung upon exposure to hyperoxia and show sex-specific differences. Mechanisms mediating EndoMT in the injured neonatal lung can modulate the response of the neonatal lung to hyperoxic injury and need further investigation.

ORGANISM(S): Mus musculus

PROVIDER: GSE230672 | GEO | 2023/11/08

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Recovery from lung injury during the neonatal period requires the orchestration of many biological pathways. Modulation of biological pathways can drive the developing lung towards proper repair or persistent maldevelopment after injury that can lead to a disease phenotype. Sex as a biological variable can modulate these pathways differently in the male and female lung exposed to neonatal hyperoxia. In this study, we assessed the contribution of cellular diversity in the male and female neonatal lung following injury. Our objective was to investigate sex and cell-type specific transcriptional changes that drive repair or persistent injury in the neonatal lung at single-cell resolution and delineate the alterations in the immune-endothelial cell communication networks in the developing lung using single cell RNA sequencing (sc-RNAseq) in a murine model of hyperoxic lung injury. We generated transcriptional profiles of >55,000 cells isolated from the lungs of postnatal day 1 (PND 1) andpostnatal day 21 (PND 21) neonatal male and female C57BL/6 mice exposed to 95% FiO2between PND 1-5 (saccular stage of lung development).We show the presence of sex-based differences in the transcriptional states of lung endothelial and immune cells at PND 1 and PND 21. Furthermore, we demonstrate that biological sex significantly influences the response to injury, with a greater number of differentially expressed genes showing sex-specific patterns than those shared between male and female lungs. Pseudotime trajectory analysis highlighted genes needed for lung development that were altered by hyperoxia. Finally, we show intercellular communication between endothelial and immune cells at saccular and alveolar stages of lung development with sex-based biases in the cross-talk and identify novel ligand-receptor pairs. Our findings provide valuable insights into the cell diversity, transcriptional state, developmental trajectory, and cell-cell communication underlying neonatal lung injury, with implications for understanding lung development and therapeutic interventions while highlighting the crucial role of sex as a biological variable.

Project description:Vascular dysfunction and chronic inflammation are characteristics of obesity-induced adipose tissue dysfunction. Proinflammatory cytokines can drive an endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndoMT), where endothelial cells undergo a phenotypic switch to mesenchymal-like cells that are pro-inflammatory and pro-fibrotic. In this study, we sought to determine whether obesity can promote EndoMT in adipose tissue. Mice in which endothelial cells are lineage-traced with eYFP were fed a high-fat/high-sucrose (HF/HS) or Control diet for 13, 26, and 52 weeks, and EndoMT was assessed in adipose tissue depots as percentage of CD45-CD31-Acta2+ mesenchymal-like cells that were eYFP+. EndoMT was also assessed in human adipose endothelial cells through cell culture assays and by the analysis of single cell RNA sequencing datasets obtained from the visceral adipose tissues of obese individuals. Quantification by flow cytometry showed that mice fed a HF/HS diet display a time-dependent increase in EndoMT over Control diet in subcutaneous adipose tissue (+3.0%, +2.6-fold at 13 weeks; +10.6%, +3.2-fold at 26 weeks; +11.8%, +2.9-fold at 52 weeks) and visceral adipose tissue (+5.5%, +2.3-fold at 13 weeks; +20.7%, +4.3-fold at 26 weeks; +25.7%, +4.8-fold at 52 weeks). Transcriptomic analysis revealed that EndoMT cells in visceral adipose tissue have enriched expression of genes associated with inflammatory and TGFb signaling pathways. Human adipose-derived microvascular endothelial cells cultured with TGF-β1, IFN-γ, and TNF-⍺ exhibited a similar upregulation of EndoMT markers and induction of inflammatory response pathways. Analysis of single cell RNA sequencing datasets from visceral adipose tissue of obese patients revealed a nascent EndoMT sub-cluster of endothelial cells with reduced PECAM1 and increased ACTA2 expression, which was also enriched for inflammatory signaling genes and other genes associated with EndoMT. These experimental and clinical findings show that chronic obesity can accelerate EndoMT in adipose tissue. We speculate that EndoMT is a feature of adipose tissue dysfunction that contributes to local inflammation and the systemic metabolic effects of obesity.

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Endothelial to Mesenchymal Transition in Neonatal Hyperoxic Lung Injury: Role of sex as a biological variable

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