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Amrute JM, Luo X, Penna V, Bredemeyer A, Yamawaki T, Yang S, Kadyrov F, Heo GS, Shi SY, Lee P, Koenig AL, Kuppe C, Jones C, Kopecky B, Hayat S, Ma P, Terada Y, Fu A, Furtado M, Kreisel D, Stitziel NO, Li CM, Kramann R, Liu Y, Ason B, Lavine KJ. Targeting Immune-Fibroblast Crosstalk in Myocardial Infarction and Cardiac Fibrosis. Res Sq 2023:rs.3.rs-2402606. [PMID: 36747878 PMCID: PMC9900986 DOI: 10.21203/rs.3.rs-2402606/v1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/27/2023]
Abstract
Inflammation and tissue fibrosis co-exist and are causally linked to organ dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms driving immune-fibroblast crosstalk in human cardiac disease remains unexplored and there are currently no therapeutics to target fibrosis. Here, we performed multi-omic single-cell gene expression, epitope mapping, and chromatin accessibility profiling in 38 donors, acutely infarcted, and chronically failing human hearts. We identified a disease-associated fibroblast trajectory marked by cell surface expression of fibroblast activator protein (FAP), which diverged into distinct myofibroblasts and pro-fibrotic fibroblast populations, the latter resembling matrifibrocytes. Pro-fibrotic fibroblasts were transcriptionally similar to cancer associated fibroblasts and expressed high levels of collagens and periostin (POSTN), thymocyte differentiation antigen 1 (THY-1), and endothelin receptor A (EDNRA) predicted to be driven by a RUNX1 gene regulatory network. We assessed the applicability of experimental systems to model tissue fibrosis and demonstrated that 3 different in vivo mouse models of cardiac injury were superior compared to cultured human heart and dermal fibroblasts in recapitulating the human disease phenotype. Ligand-receptor analysis and spatial transcriptomics predicted that interactions between C-C chemokine receptor type 2 (CCR2) macrophages and fibroblasts mediated by interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) signaling drove the emergence of pro-fibrotic fibroblasts within spatially defined niches. This concept was validated through in silico transcription factor perturbation and in vivo inhibition of IL-1β signaling in fibroblasts where we observed reduced pro-fibrotic fibroblasts, preferential differentiation of fibroblasts towards myofibroblasts, and reduced cardiac fibrosis. Herein, we show a subset of macrophages signal to fibroblasts via IL-1β and rewire their gene regulatory network and differentiation trajectory towards a pro-fibrotic fibroblast phenotype. These findings highlight the broader therapeutic potential of targeting inflammation to treat tissue fibrosis and restore organ function.
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Affiliation(s)
- Junedh M. Amrute
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Xin Luo
- Genome Analysis Unit, Amgen Discovery Research, Amgen Inc., 1120 Veterans Blvd, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Vinay Penna
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Andrea Bredemeyer
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Tracy Yamawaki
- Genome Analysis Unit, Amgen Discovery Research, Amgen Inc., 1120 Veterans Blvd, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Steven Yang
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Farid Kadyrov
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Gyu-Seong Heo
- Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Sally Yu Shi
- Department of Cardiometabolic Disorders, Amgen Discovery Research, Amgen Inc., 1120 Veterans Blvd, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Paul Lee
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Andrew L. Koenig
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Christoph Kuppe
- Institute of Experimental Medicine and Systems Biology, RWTH Aachen University, Medical Faculty, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Nephrology, RWTH Aachen, Medical Faculty, Aachen, Germany
| | - Cameran Jones
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Benjamin Kopecky
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Sikander Hayat
- Institute of Experimental Medicine and Systems Biology, RWTH Aachen University, Medical Faculty, Aachen, Germany
| | - Pan Ma
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Yuriko Terada
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Angela Fu
- Department of Cardiometabolic Disorders, Amgen Discovery Research, Amgen Inc., 1120 Veterans Blvd, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Milena Furtado
- Genome Analysis Unit, Amgen Discovery Research, Amgen Inc., 1120 Veterans Blvd, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Daniel Kreisel
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Department of Surgery, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Nathan O. Stitziel
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- McDonnell Genome Institute, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Chi-Ming Li
- Genome Analysis Unit, Amgen Discovery Research, Amgen Inc., 1120 Veterans Blvd, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Rafael Kramann
- Institute of Experimental Medicine and Systems Biology, RWTH Aachen University, Medical Faculty, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Nephrology, RWTH Aachen, Medical Faculty, Aachen, Germany
- Department of Internal Medicine, Nephrology and Transplantation Erasmus Medical Center, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Yongjian Liu
- Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
| | - Brandon Ason
- Department of Cardiometabolic Disorders, Amgen Discovery Research, Amgen Inc., 1120 Veterans Blvd, South San Francisco, CA, 94080, USA
| | - Kory J. Lavine
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, Division of Cardiology, Department of Medicine, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Genetics, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
- Department of Developmental Biology, Washington University School of Medicine, Saint Louis, MO, 63110, USA
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