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Datla US, Vundurthy B, Hook JS, Menon N, Razmi Bagtash H, Shihabeddin T, Schmidtke DW, Moreland JG, Radic MZ, Jones CN. Quantifying neutrophil extracellular trap release in a combined infection-inflammation NET-array device. LAB ON A CHIP 2024; 24:615-628. [PMID: 38189525 PMCID: PMC10826461 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00648d] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/26/2023] [Accepted: 12/04/2023] [Indexed: 01/09/2024]
Abstract
Excessive release of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) has been reported in various human pathologies, including COVID-19 patients. Elevated NET levels serve as a biomarker, indicating increased coagulopathy and immunothrombosis risks in these patients. Traditional immunoassays employed to quantify NET release focus on bulk measurements of released chromatin in simplified microenvironments. In this study, we fabricated a novel NET-array device to quantify NET release from primary human neutrophils with single-cell resolution in the presence of the motile bacteria Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 and inflammatory mediators. The device was engineered to have wide chambers and constricted loops to measure NET release in variably confined spaces. Our open NET-array device enabled immunofluorescent labeling of citrullinated histone H3, a NET release marker. We took time-lapse images of primary healthy human neutrophils releasing NETs in clinically relevant infection and inflammation-rich microenvironments. We then developed a computer-vision-based image processing method to automate the quantification of individual NETs. We showed a significant increase in NET release to Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1 when challenged with inflammatory mediators tumor necrosis factor-α [20 ng mL-1] and interleukin-6 [50 ng mL-1], but not leukotriene B4 [20 nM], compared to the infection alone. We also quantified the temporal dynamics of NET release and differences in the relative areas of NETs, showing a high percentage of variable size NET release with combined PAO1 - inflammatory mediator treatment, in the device chambers. Importantly, we demonstrated reduced NET release in the confined loops of our combined infection-inflammation microsystem. Ultimately, our NET-array device stands as a valuable tool, facilitating experiments that enhance our comprehension of the spatiotemporal dynamics of NET release in response to infection within a defined microenvironment. In the future, our system can be used for high throughput and cost-effective screening of novel immunotherapies on human neutrophils in view of the importance of fine-tuning NET release in controlling pathological neutrophil-driven inflammation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Udaya Sree Datla
- Translational Biology, Medicine and Health, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | | | - Jessica S Hook
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Nidhi Menon
- Translational Biology, Medicine and Health, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, VA, USA
| | - Hossein Razmi Bagtash
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Tarik Shihabeddin
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
| | - David W Schmidtke
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Jessica G Moreland
- Department of Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
- Department of Microbiology, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
| | - Marko Z Radic
- Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Biochemistry, University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN, USA
| | - Caroline N Jones
- Department of Bioengineering, University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA.
- Department of Surgery, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, TX, USA
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Liu D, Langston JC, Prabhakarpandian B, Kiani MF, Kilpatrick LE. The critical role of neutrophil-endothelial cell interactions in sepsis: new synergistic approaches employing organ-on-chip, omics, immune cell phenotyping and in silico modeling to identify new therapeutics. Front Cell Infect Microbiol 2024; 13:1274842. [PMID: 38259971 PMCID: PMC10800980 DOI: 10.3389/fcimb.2023.1274842] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/09/2023] [Accepted: 12/18/2023] [Indexed: 01/24/2024] Open
Abstract
Sepsis is a global health concern accounting for more than 1 in 5 deaths worldwide. Sepsis is now defined as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. Sepsis can develop from bacterial (gram negative or gram positive), fungal or viral (such as COVID) infections. However, therapeutics developed in animal models and traditional in vitro sepsis models have had little success in clinical trials, as these models have failed to fully replicate the underlying pathophysiology and heterogeneity of the disease. The current understanding is that the host response to sepsis is highly diverse among patients, and this heterogeneity impacts immune function and response to infection. Phenotyping immune function and classifying sepsis patients into specific endotypes is needed to develop a personalized treatment approach. Neutrophil-endothelium interactions play a critical role in sepsis progression, and increased neutrophil influx and endothelial barrier disruption have important roles in the early course of organ damage. Understanding the mechanism of neutrophil-endothelium interactions and how immune function impacts this interaction can help us better manage the disease and lead to the discovery of new diagnostic and prognosis tools for effective treatments. In this review, we will discuss the latest research exploring how in silico modeling of a synergistic combination of new organ-on-chip models incorporating human cells/tissue, omics analysis and clinical data from sepsis patients will allow us to identify relevant signaling pathways and characterize specific immune phenotypes in patients. Emerging technologies such as machine learning can then be leveraged to identify druggable therapeutic targets and relate them to immune phenotypes and underlying infectious agents. This synergistic approach can lead to the development of new therapeutics and the identification of FDA approved drugs that can be repurposed for the treatment of sepsis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Dan Liu
- Department of Bioengineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Jordan C. Langston
- Department of Bioengineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | | | - Mohammad F. Kiani
- Department of Bioengineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Department of Mechanical Engineering, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
- Department of Radiation Oncology, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
| | - Laurie E. Kilpatrick
- Center for Inflammation and Lung Research, Department of Microbiology, Immunology and Inflammation, Lewis Katz School of Medicine, Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, United States
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Yadav SK, Park S, Lee YM, Hurh S, Kim D, Min S, Kim S, Yan JJ, Kang BC, Kim S, Yang J, Jeong JC. Application of microphysiologic system to assess neutrophil extracellular trap in xenotransplantation. J Immunol Methods 2023; 521:113537. [PMID: 37598787 DOI: 10.1016/j.jim.2023.113537] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/23/2023] [Revised: 08/03/2023] [Accepted: 08/14/2023] [Indexed: 08/22/2023]
Abstract
Transplantation of organs, cells, or tissues from one species to another, known as xenotransplantation, has the potential to alleviate organ donor shortages and enhance the success of organ transplantation. However, the possibility of immunological rejection by the recipient is one of the biggest difficulties associated with xenotransplantation. The creation of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), also known as NETosis, is hypothesized as a mechanism of rejection. Innovations in microfluidics and co-culturing techniques have provided access to several classes of microengineered model systems in experimental models, connecting animal research and traditional in vitro methods such as organoids, microphysiological systems, and organs-on-chip. To achieve this goal, we established a perfusable 3D Xeno vessel chip using a porcine aortic endothelial cell line and examined how NETs grow when isolated human and primate neutrophils were used. Neutrophils from both humans and monkeys displayed the usual NETosis phases, including nuclear decondensation, enlargement, and rounding of DNA, occupying the entire cytoplasm, and discharge of fragmented DNA after cell membrane rupture. Using confocal fluorescence imaging of DNA and citrullinated histone colocalization and DNA histone complex formation in supernatants from xeno vessel chips, we confirmed NETs generation by human and monkey neutrophils when cocultured in a xeno-vessel chip.
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Affiliation(s)
- Suchen Kumar Yadav
- Department of Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea; Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea.
| | - Seokwoo Park
- Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea.
| | - Yun-Mi Lee
- Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea.
| | - Sunghoon Hurh
- Department of Biomedical Sciences, College of Medicine, Korea University, Seoul, South Korea.
| | | | - Sangil Min
- Department of Surgery, Seoul National University Hospital, Seoul, South Korea.
| | - Sejoong Kim
- Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea.
| | - Ji-Jing Yan
- Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
| | - Byeong-Cheol Kang
- Department of Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
| | | | - Jaeseok Yang
- Department of Internal Medicine, Yonsei University College of Medicine, Seoul, South Korea.
| | - Jong Cheol Jeong
- Department of Internal Medicine, Seoul National University Bundang Hospital, Seongnam, South Korea.
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Petchakup C, Wong SO, Dalan R, Hou HW. Label-free virtual staining of neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) in microfluidics. LAB ON A CHIP 2023; 23:3936-3944. [PMID: 37584074 DOI: 10.1039/d3lc00398a] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 08/17/2023]
Abstract
Neutrophils are the most abundant circulating white blood cells and one of their critical functions to eliminate pathogenic threats includes the release of extracellular DNA, also known as neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs), which is dysregulated in many diseases including cancer, type 2 diabetes mellitus and infectious diseases. Currently, conventional methods to quantify the NET formation (NETosis) rely on fluorescence antibody-based NET labelling or circulating NET-associated protein detection by ELISA, which are expensive, laborious, and time-consuming. In this work, we employed a novel "virtual staining" using deep convolutional neural networks (CNNs) to facilitate label-free quantification of NETs trapped in a micropillar array in a microfluidic device. Virtual staining is constructed to establish relations between morphological features in phase contrast images and fluorescence features in Sytox-green (DNA dye) images. We first investigated the effect of different learning rates on model training and optimized the learning rate to achieve the best model which can provide outputs close to Sytox green staining based on various reconstruction metrics (e.g., structural similarity (SSIM) and pixel-wise error (MAE, MSE)). The virtual staining of different NET concentrations was investigated which showed a linear correlation with fluorescent staining. As a proof of concept for clinical testing, the model was used to characterize purified neutrophils treated with NETosis inducers, including lipopolysaccharide (LPS), phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA), and calcium ionophore (CaI), and successfully detected different NET profiles for different treatments. Collectively, these results demonstrated the potential of using deep learning for enhanced label-free image analysis of NETs for clinical research, drug discovery and point-of-care testing of diseases.
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Affiliation(s)
- Chayakorn Petchakup
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Blk N3, Level 2, Room 86 (N3-02c-86), 639798, Singapore.
| | - Siong Onn Wong
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Blk N3, Level 2, Room 86 (N3-02c-86), 639798, Singapore.
| | - Rinkoo Dalan
- Endocrinology Department, Tan Tock Seng Hospital, Singapore
| | - Han Wei Hou
- School of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Nanyang Technological University, 50 Nanyang Avenue, Blk N3, Level 2, Room 86 (N3-02c-86), 639798, Singapore.
- Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore
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Zhang Y, Song J, Zhang Y, Li T, Peng J, Zhou H, Zong Z. Emerging Role of Neutrophil Extracellular Traps in Gastrointestinal Tumors: A Narrative Review. Int J Mol Sci 2022; 24:ijms24010334. [PMID: 36613779 PMCID: PMC9820455 DOI: 10.3390/ijms24010334] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/29/2022] [Revised: 12/07/2022] [Accepted: 12/22/2022] [Indexed: 12/28/2022] Open
Abstract
Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are extracellular fibrous networks consisting of depolymerized chromatin DNA skeletons with a variety of antimicrobial proteins. They are secreted by activated neutrophils and play key roles in host defense and immune responses. Gastrointestinal (GI) malignancies are globally known for their high mortality and morbidity. Increasing research suggests that NETs contribute to the progression and metastasis of digestive tract tumors, among them gastric, colon, liver, and pancreatic cancers. This article explores the formation of NETs and reviews the role that NETs play in the gastrointestinal oncologic microenvironment, tumor proliferation and metastasis, tumor-related thrombosis, and surgical stress. At the same time, we analyze the qualitative and quantitative detection methods of NETs in recent years and found that NETs are specific markers of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). Then, we explore the possibility of NET inhibitors for the treatment of digestive tract tumor diseases to provide a new, efficient, and safe solution for the future therapy of gastrointestinal tumors.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yujun Zhang
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, 1 MinDe Road, Nanchang 330006, China
- HuanKui Academy, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China
| | - Jingjing Song
- Nanchang University School of Ophthalmology & Optometry, Jiangxi Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China
| | - Yiwei Zhang
- Queen Marry College, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China
| | - Ting Li
- The Second Clinical Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China
| | - Jie Peng
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, 1 MinDe Road, Nanchang 330006, China
- The Second Clinical Medical College, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China
| | - Haonan Zhou
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, 1 MinDe Road, Nanchang 330006, China
- Queen Marry College, Nanchang University, Nanchang 330006, China
| | - Zhen Zong
- Department of Gastrointestinal Surgery, The Second Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University, 1 MinDe Road, Nanchang 330006, China
- Correspondence:
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