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Ung N, Goldbeck C, Man C, Hoeflich J, Sun R, Barbetta A, Matasci N, Katz J, Lee JSH, Chopra S, Asgharzadeh S, Warren M, Sher L, Kohli R, Akbari O, Genyk Y, Emamaullee J. Adaptation of Imaging Mass Cytometry to Explore the Single Cell Alloimmune Landscape of Liver Transplant Rejection. Front Immunol 2022; 13:831103. [PMID: 35432320 PMCID: PMC9009043 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2022.831103] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/08/2021] [Accepted: 03/08/2022] [Indexed: 12/14/2022] Open
Abstract
Rejection continues to be an important cause of graft loss in solid organ transplantation, but deep exploration of intragraft alloimmunity has been limited by the scarcity of clinical biopsy specimens. Emerging single cell immunoprofiling technologies have shown promise in discerning mechanisms of autoimmunity and cancer immunobiology. Within these applications, Imaging Mass Cytometry (IMC) has been shown to enable highly multiplexed, single cell analysis of immune phenotypes within fixed tissue specimens. In this study, an IMC panel of 10 validated markers was developed to explore the feasibility of IMC in characterizing the immune landscape of chronic rejection (CR) in clinical tissue samples obtained from liver transplant recipients. IMC staining was highly specific and comparable to traditional immunohistochemistry. A single cell segmentation analysis pipeline was developed that enabled detailed visualization and quantification of 109,245 discrete cells, including 30,646 immune cells. Dimensionality reduction identified 11 unique immune subpopulations in CR specimens. Most immune subpopulations were increased and spatially related in CR, including two populations of CD45+/CD3+/CD8+ cytotoxic T-cells and a discrete CD68+ macrophage population, which were not observed in liver with no rejection (NR). Modeling via principal component analysis and logistic regression revealed that single cell data can be utilized to construct statistical models with high consistency (Wilcoxon Rank Sum test, p=0.000036). This study highlights the power of IMC to investigate the alloimmune microenvironment at a single cell resolution during clinical rejection episodes. Further validation of IMC has the potential to detect new biomarkers, identify therapeutic targets, and generate patient-specific predictive models of clinical outcomes in solid organ transplantation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nolan Ung
- Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Cameron Goldbeck
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Abdominal Organ Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Cassandra Man
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Abdominal Organ Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Julianne Hoeflich
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Abdominal Organ Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Ren Sun
- Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Arianna Barbetta
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Abdominal Organ Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Naim Matasci
- Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Jonathan Katz
- Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Jerry S. H. Lee
- Ellison Institute for Transformative Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Chemical Engineering and Material Sciences, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Shefali Chopra
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Pathology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Shahab Asgharzadeh
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Mika Warren
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Pathology, Children’s Hospital-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Linda Sher
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Abdominal Organ Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Rohit Kohli
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Pediatrics, Children’s Hospital-Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Omid Akbari
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Yuri Genyk
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Abdominal Organ Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
| | - Juliet Emamaullee
- Division of Hepatobiliary and Abdominal Organ Transplant Surgery, Department of Surgery, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Keck School of Medicine, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, United States
- *Correspondence: Juliet Emamaullee,
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