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Mayr CH, Sengupta A, Asgharpour S, Ansari M, Pestoni JC, Ogar P, Angelidis I, Liontos A, Rodriguez-Castillo JA, Lang NJ, Strunz M, Porras-Gonzalez D, Gerckens M, De Sadeleer LJ, Oehrle B, Viteri-Alvarez V, Fernandez IE, Tallquist M, Irmler M, Beckers J, Eickelberg O, Stoleriu GM, Behr J, Kneidinger N, Wuyts WA, Wasnick RM, Yildirim AÖ, Ahlbrecht K, Morty RE, Samakovlis C, Theis FJ, Burgstaller G, Schiller HB. Sfrp1 inhibits lung fibroblast invasion during transition to injury-induced myofibroblasts. Eur Respir J 2024; 63:2301326. [PMID: 38212077 PMCID: PMC10850614 DOI: 10.1183/13993003.01326-2023] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/19/2023] [Accepted: 11/13/2023] [Indexed: 01/13/2024]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Fibroblast-to-myofibroblast conversion is a major driver of tissue remodelling in organ fibrosis. Distinct lineages of fibroblasts support homeostatic tissue niche functions, yet their specific activation states and phenotypic trajectories during injury and repair have remained unclear. METHODS We combined spatial transcriptomics, multiplexed immunostainings, longitudinal single-cell RNA-sequencing and genetic lineage tracing to study fibroblast fates during mouse lung regeneration. Our findings were validated in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis patient tissues in situ as well as in cell differentiation and invasion assays using patient lung fibroblasts. Cell differentiation and invasion assays established a function of SFRP1 in regulating human lung fibroblast invasion in response to transforming growth factor (TGF)β1. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS We discovered a transitional fibroblast state characterised by high Sfrp1 expression, derived from both Tcf21-Cre lineage positive and negative cells. Sfrp1 + cells appeared early after injury in peribronchiolar, adventitial and alveolar locations and preceded the emergence of myofibroblasts. We identified lineage-specific paracrine signals and inferred converging transcriptional trajectories towards Sfrp1 + transitional fibroblasts and Cthrc1 + myofibroblasts. TGFβ1 downregulated SFRP1 in noninvasive transitional cells and induced their switch to an invasive CTHRC1+ myofibroblast identity. Finally, using loss-of-function studies we showed that SFRP1 modulates TGFβ1-induced fibroblast invasion and RHOA pathway activity. CONCLUSIONS Our study reveals the convergence of spatially and transcriptionally distinct fibroblast lineages into transcriptionally uniform myofibroblasts and identifies SFRP1 as a modulator of TGFβ1-driven fibroblast phenotypes in fibrogenesis. These findings are relevant in the context of therapeutic interventions that aim at limiting or reversing fibroblast foci formation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Christoph H Mayr
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
- C.H. Mayr and A. Sengupta contributed equally to this work
| | - Arunima Sengupta
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
- C.H. Mayr and A. Sengupta contributed equally to this work
| | - Sara Asgharpour
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Meshal Ansari
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
- Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Munich, Munich, Germany
| | - Jeanine C Pestoni
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Paulina Ogar
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Ilias Angelidis
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Andreas Liontos
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- SciLifeLab, Stockholm, Sweden
| | | | - Niklas J Lang
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Maximilian Strunz
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Diana Porras-Gonzalez
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Michael Gerckens
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
- Department of Internal Medicine V, Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), CPC-M bioArchive, Munich, Germany
| | - Laurens J De Sadeleer
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery (BREATHE), Department CHROMETA, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Bettina Oehrle
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Valeria Viteri-Alvarez
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Isis E Fernandez
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Michelle Tallquist
- Center for Cardiovascular Research, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI, USA
| | - Martin Irmler
- Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
| | - Johannes Beckers
- Institute of Experimental Genetics, Helmholtz Zentrum München, Neuherberg, Germany
- German Center for Diabetes Research (DZD e.V.), Neuherberg, Germany
- Chair of Experimental Genetics, Technical University of Munich, Freising, Germany
| | - Oliver Eickelberg
- Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine, Department of Medicine, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, PA, USA
| | - Gabriel Mircea Stoleriu
- Department of Internal Medicine V, Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), CPC-M bioArchive, Munich, Germany
| | - Jürgen Behr
- Department of Internal Medicine V, Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), CPC-M bioArchive, Munich, Germany
| | - Nikolaus Kneidinger
- Department of Internal Medicine V, Ludwig-Maximilians University (LMU) Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), CPC-M bioArchive, Munich, Germany
| | - Wim A Wuyts
- Laboratory of Respiratory Diseases and Thoracic Surgery (BREATHE), Department CHROMETA, KU Leuven, Leuven, Belgium
| | - Roxana Maria Wasnick
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Ali Önder Yildirim
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
- Institute of Experimental Pneumology, LMU University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
| | - Katrin Ahlbrecht
- Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Bad Nauheim, Germany
| | - Rory E Morty
- Department of Translational Pulmonology, University Hospital Heidelberg, and Translational Lung Research Center (TLRC), Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Heidelberg, Germany
| | - Christos Samakovlis
- Department of Molecular Biosciences, The Wenner-Gren Institute, Stockholm University, Stockholm, Sweden
- SciLifeLab, Stockholm, Sweden
| | - Fabian J Theis
- Institute of Computational Biology, Helmholtz Munich, Munich, Germany
- Department of Mathematics, Technische Universität München, Munich, Germany
| | - Gerald Burgstaller
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
- G. Burgstaller and H.B. Schiller contributed equally to this article as lead authors and supervised the work
| | - Herbert B Schiller
- Comprehensive Pneumology Center (CPC)/Institute of Lung Health and Immunity (LHI), Helmholtz Munich, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
- Institute of Experimental Pneumology, LMU University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University, Munich, Germany
- G. Burgstaller and H.B. Schiller contributed equally to this article as lead authors and supervised the work
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Kastlmeier MT, Gonzalez-Rodriguez E, Cabanis P, Guenther EM, König AC, Han L, Hauck SM, See F, Asgharpour S, Bukas C, Burgstaller G, Piraud M, Lehmann M, Hatz RA, Behr J, Stoeger T, Hilgendorff A, Voss C. Cytokine signaling converging on IL11 in ILD fibroblasts provokes aberrant epithelial differentiation signatures. Front Immunol 2023; 14:1128239. [PMID: 37266432 PMCID: PMC10230276 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2023.1128239] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 12/20/2022] [Accepted: 03/23/2023] [Indexed: 06/03/2023] Open
Abstract
Introduction Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a heterogenous group of lung disorders where destruction and incomplete regeneration of the lung parenchyma often results in persistent architectural distortion of the pulmonary scaffold. Continuous mesenchyme-centered, disease-relevant signaling likely initiates and perpetuates the fibrotic remodeling process, specifically targeting the epithelial cell compartment, thereby destroying the gas exchange area. Methods With the aim of identifying functional mediators of the lung mesenchymal-epithelial crosstalk with potential as new targets for therapeutic strategies, we developed a 3D organoid co-culture model based on human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived alveolar epithelial type 2 cells that form alveolar organoids in presence of lung fibroblasts from fibrotic-ILD patients, in our study referring to cases of pulmonary fibrosis, as well as control cell line (IMR-90). Results While organoid formation capacity and size was comparable in the presence of fibrotic-ILD or control lung fibroblasts, metabolic activity was significantly increased in fibrotic-ILD co-cultures. Alveolar organoids cultured with fibrotic-ILD fibroblasts further demonstrated reduced stem cell function as reflected by reduced Surfactant Protein C gene expression together with an aberrant basaloid-prone differentiation program indicated by elevated Cadherin 2, Bone Morphogenic Protein 4 and Vimentin transcription. To screen for key mediators of the misguided mesenchymal-to-epithelial crosstalk with a focus on disease-relevant inflammatory processes, we used mass spectrometry and characterized the secretome of end stage fibrotic-ILD lung fibroblasts in comparison to non-chronic lung disease (CLD) patient fibroblasts. Out of the over 2000 proteins detected by this experimental approach, 47 proteins were differentially abundant comparing fibrotic-ILD and non-CLD fibroblast secretome. The fibrotic-ILD secretome profile was dominated by chemokines, including CXCL1, CXCL3, and CXCL8, interfering with growth factor signaling orchestrated by Interleukin 11 (IL11), steering fibrogenic cell-cell communication, and proteins regulating extracellular matrix remodeling including epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. When in turn treating alveolar organoids with IL11, we recapitulated the co-culture results obtained with primary fibrotic-ILD fibroblasts including changes in metabolic activity. Conclusion We identified mediators likely contributing to the disease-perpetuating mesenchymal-to-epithelial crosstalk in ILD. In our alveolar organoid co-cultures, we were able to highlight the importance of fibroblast-initiated aberrant epithelial differentiation and confirmed IL11 as a key player in fibrotic-ILD pathogenesis by unbiased fibroblast secretome analysis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Miriam T. Kastlmeier
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Erika Gonzalez-Rodriguez
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Phoebe Cabanis
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Eva M. Guenther
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Ann-Christine König
- Metabolomics and Proteomics Core (MPC), Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Munich, Germany
| | - Lianyong Han
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Stefanie M. Hauck
- Metabolomics and Proteomics Core (MPC), Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Munich, Germany
| | - Fenja See
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Sara Asgharpour
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Christina Bukas
- Helmholtz AI, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Munich, Germany
| | - Gerald Burgstaller
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Marie Piraud
- Helmholtz AI, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Munich, Germany
| | - Mareike Lehmann
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
- Institute for Lung Research, Philipps-University Marburg, Universities of Giessen and Marburg Lung Center, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Marburg, Germany
| | - Rudolf A. Hatz
- Klinik für Thoraxchirurgie, Asklepios Fachkliniken München-Gauting, Thoraxchirurgie, Munich, Germany
| | - Jürgen Behr
- Department of Medicine V, University Hospital, Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Comprehensive Pneumology Center, Member of the German Center for Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Tobias Stoeger
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Anne Hilgendorff
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
- Dr. von Haunersche Children’s Hospital, Hospital of the Ludwig-Maximilians University, Member of the German Lung Research Center (DZL), Munich, Germany
| | - Carola Voss
- Institute of Lung Health and Immunity, Helmholtz Center Munich, German Research Center for Environmental Health (GmbH), Comprehensive Pneumology Center Munich with the CPC-M bioArchive, Member of the German Center of Lung Research (DZL), Munich, Germany
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Shojaei Jeshvaghani Z, Arefian E, Asgharpour S, Soleimani M. Latency-Associated Transcript-Derived MicroRNAs in Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Target SMAD3 and SMAD4 in TGF-β/Smad Signaling Pathway. Iran Biomed J 2021; 25:169-79. [PMID: 33546553 DOI: 10.29252/ibj.25.3.169] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/31/2022]
Abstract
Background During its latent infection, hepatic stellate cell (HSV-1) produces only a micro RNA (miRNA) precursor called latency-associated transcript (LAT), which encodes six distinct miRNAs. Recent studies have suggested that some of these miRNAs could target cellular mRNAs. One of the key cell signaling pathways that can be affected by HSV-1 is the TGF-β/Smad pathway. Herein, we investigated the potential role of the LAT as well as three LAT-derived miRNAs in targeting SMAD3 and SMAD4, as two main mediators in TGF-β/Smad. Methods The selection of LAT-derived miRNAs was based on the search results obtained from an online miRNA prediction tool. HEK293T cells were transfected with each miRNA-expressing lentivector and with the construct-expressing LAT. To survey the effect of LAT on the expression of pro-fibrotic markers, we transfected LX-2 cells with LAT construct. The impact of viral miRNA overexpression on SMADs and fibrotic markers was measured by quantitative PCR and luciferase assays. Results Among the LAT-derived miRNAs, miR-H2, miR-H3, and miR-H4 were selected for the study. Our results demonstrated that while miR-H2 binds to both SMAD mRNAs, miR-H3 and miR-H4 inhibit only the expression of the SMAD4 and SMAD3, respectively. Transfection of the LX-2 with LAT also decreased pro-fibrotic genes expression. Conclusion Our findings display that LAT negatively regulates TGF-β/Smad through targeting SMAD3 and SMAD4 by its miRNAs. These viral miRNAs can also contribute to the development of therapeutic interventions in diseases for which prevention or treatment can be achieved through targeting TGF-β pathway.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Ehsan Arefian
- Department of Microbiology, School of Biology, College of Science, University of Tehran, Tehran, Iran
| | | | - Masoud Soleimani
- Department of Hematology, Faculty of Medical Sciences, Tarbiat Modares University, Tehran, Iran
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