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Ageedi W, Zhang C, Frankel WC, Dawson A, Li Y, Coselli JS, Shen HY, LeMaire SA. AIM2 Inflammasome Activation Contributes to Aortic Dissection in a Sporadic Aortic Disease Mouse Model. J Surg Res 2022; 272:105-116. [PMID: 34963084 DOI: 10.1016/j.jss.2021.10.020] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/11/2021] [Revised: 08/26/2021] [Accepted: 10/16/2021] [Indexed: 11/22/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasome induces pyroptosis, tissue inflammation, and extracellular matrix destruction. We tested the hypothesis that the AIM2 inflammasome contributes to aortic aneurysm and dissection (AAD) development by promoting pyroptosis in smooth muscle cells (SMCs). METHODS We examined AIM2 expression in aortic tissues from patients with ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm (ATAA) and aortic dissection (ATAD) and from organ donor controls. AIM2's role in AAD development was evaluated in AIM2-deficient mice in a sporadic AAD model induced by challenging mice with a high-fat diet and angiotensin II infusion. The direct effects of dsDNA on SMC death in vitro were studied. RESULTS Western blot analyses showed that AIM2 was increased in ATAD compared to ATAA and control tissue. Immunofluorescence demonstrated increased AIM2 in SMCs and macrophages in the aortic media and adventitia of dissected tissue. Increased AIM2 abundance was associated with increased cleavage of caspase-1 and cleavage of gasdermin-D, indicating activation of pyroptosis. In a mouse model of sporadic AAD induced by high-fat diet and angiotensin II infusion, AIM2-deficient mice showed significant reduction in aortic dissection, but not aneurysm formation in all aortic segments, versus wild-type mice. Finally, treating cultured human aortic SMCs with double-stranded DNA induced AIM2 expression, caspase-1 cleavage, and gasdermin-D cleavage; these effects were reduced by silencing AIM2 and caspase-1 genes, suggesting involvement of the AIM2 inflammasome in cytosolic DNA-induced activation of SMC pyroptosis. CONCLUSIONS Activation of the AIM2 inflammasome cascade contributes to aortic degeneration and dissection, in part, by activating pyroptosis.
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Affiliation(s)
- Waleed Ageedi
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Chen Zhang
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - William Case Frankel
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Ashley Dawson
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Yang Li
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
| | - Joseph S Coselli
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas
| | - Hu Ying Shen
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas; Cardiovascular Research Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
| | - Scott A LeMaire
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; Division of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, Texas; Cardiovascular Research Institute, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas; Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.
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Dawson A, Li Y, Li Y, Ren P, Vasquez HG, Zhang C, Rebello KR, Ageedi W, Azares AR, Mattar AB, Sheppard MB, Lu HS, Coselli JS, Cassis LA, Daugherty A, Shen YH, LeMaire SA. Single-Cell Analysis of Aneurysmal Aortic Tissue in Patients with Marfan Syndrome Reveals Dysfunctional TGF-β Signaling. Genes (Basel) 2021; 13:95. [PMID: 35052435 PMCID: PMC8774900 DOI: 10.3390/genes13010095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Revised: 12/23/2021] [Accepted: 12/23/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023] Open
Abstract
The molecular and cellular processes leading to aortic aneurysm development in Marfan syndrome (MFS) remain poorly understood. In this study, we examined the changes of aortic cell populations and gene expression in MFS by performing single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA seq) on ascending aortic aneurysm tissues from patients with MFS (n = 3) and age-matched non-aneurysmal control tissues from cardiac donors and recipients (n = 4). The expression of key molecules was confirmed by immunostaining. We detected diverse populations of smooth muscle cells (SMCs), fibroblasts, and endothelial cells (ECs) in the aortic wall. Aortic tissues from MFS showed alterations of cell populations with increased de-differentiated proliferative SMCs compared to controls. Furthermore, there was a downregulation of MYOCD and MYH11 in SMCs, and an upregulation of COL1A1/2 in fibroblasts in MFS samples compared to controls. We also examined TGF-β signaling, an important pathway in aortic homeostasis. We found that TGFB1 was significantly upregulated in two fibroblast clusters in MFS tissues. However, TGF-β receptor genes (predominantly TGFBR2) and SMAD genes were downregulated in SMCs, fibroblasts, and ECs in MFS, indicating impairment in TGF-β signaling. In conclusion, despite upregulation of TGFB1, the rest of the canonical TGF-β pathway and mature SMCs were consistently downregulated in MFS, indicating a potential compromise of TGF-β signaling and lack of stimulus for SMC differentiation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ashley Dawson
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
| | - Yanming Li
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
| | - Yang Li
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
| | - Pingping Ren
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
| | - Hernan G. Vasquez
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
| | - Chen Zhang
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
| | - Kimberly R. Rebello
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
| | - Waleed Ageedi
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
| | - Alon R. Azares
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, TX 77030, USA;
| | - Aladdein Burchett Mattar
- Division of Cardiothoracic Transplantation and Circulatory Support, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA;
| | - Mary Burchett Sheppard
- Saha Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA; (M.B.S.); (H.S.L.); (A.D.)
- Department of Physiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA
| | - Hong S. Lu
- Saha Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA; (M.B.S.); (H.S.L.); (A.D.)
- Department of Physiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA
| | - Joseph S. Coselli
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, TX 77030, USA;
| | - Lisa A. Cassis
- Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA;
| | - Alan Daugherty
- Saha Cardiovascular Research Center, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA; (M.B.S.); (H.S.L.); (A.D.)
- Department of Physiology, University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY 40536, USA
| | - Ying H. Shen
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, TX 77030, USA;
| | - Scott A. LeMaire
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX 77030, USA; (A.D.); (Y.L.); (Y.L.); (P.R.); (H.G.V.); (C.Z.); (K.R.R.); (W.A.); (J.S.C.); (Y.H.S.)
- Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston, TX 77030, USA;
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Li Y, Ren P, Dawson A, Vasquez HG, Ageedi W, Zhang C, Luo W, Chen R, Li Y, Kim S, Lu HS, Cassis LA, Coselli JS, Daugherty A, Shen YH, LeMaire SA. Single-Cell Transcriptome Analysis Reveals Dynamic Cell Populations and Differential Gene Expression Patterns in Control and Aneurysmal Human Aortic Tissue. Circulation 2020; 142:1374-1388. [PMID: 33017217 DOI: 10.1161/circulationaha.120.046528] [Citation(s) in RCA: 128] [Impact Index Per Article: 32.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/11/2023]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Ascending thoracic aortic aneurysm (ATAA) is caused by the progressive weakening and dilatation of the aortic wall and can lead to aortic dissection, rupture, and other life-threatening complications. To improve our understanding of ATAA pathogenesis, we aimed to comprehensively characterize the cellular composition of the ascending aortic wall and to identify molecular alterations in each cell population of human ATAA tissues. METHODS We performed single-cell RNA sequencing analysis of ascending aortic tissues from 11 study participants, including 8 patients with ATAA (4 women and 4 men) and 3 control subjects (2 women and 1 man). Cells extracted from aortic tissue were analyzed and categorized with single-cell RNA sequencing data to perform cluster identification. ATAA-related changes were then examined by comparing the proportions of each cell type and the gene expression profiles between ATAA and control tissues. We also examined which genes may be critical for ATAA by performing the integrative analysis of our single-cell RNA sequencing data with publicly available data from genome-wide association studies. RESULTS We identified 11 major cell types in human ascending aortic tissue; the high-resolution reclustering of these cells further divided them into 40 subtypes. Multiple subtypes were observed for smooth muscle cells, macrophages, and T lymphocytes, suggesting that these cells have multiple functional populations in the aortic wall. In general, ATAA tissues had fewer nonimmune cells and more immune cells, especially T lymphocytes, than control tissues did. Differential gene expression data suggested the presence of extensive mitochondrial dysfunction in ATAA tissues. In addition, integrative analysis of our single-cell RNA sequencing data with public genome-wide association study data and promoter capture Hi-C data suggested that the erythroblast transformation-specific related gene(ERG) exerts an important role in maintaining normal aortic wall function. CONCLUSIONS Our study provides a comprehensive evaluation of the cellular composition of the ascending aortic wall and reveals how the gene expression landscape is altered in human ATAA tissue. The information from this study makes important contributions to our understanding of ATAA formation and progression.
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Affiliation(s)
- Yanming Li
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.)
| | - Pingping Ren
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.)
| | - Ashley Dawson
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.)
| | - Hernan G Vasquez
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.)
| | - Waleed Ageedi
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.)
| | - Chen Zhang
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.)
| | - Wei Luo
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.)
| | - Rui Chen
- Human Genome Sequencing Center (R.C., Yumei Li, S.K.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | - Yumei Li
- Human Genome Sequencing Center (R.C., Yumei Li, S.K.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | - Sangbae Kim
- Human Genome Sequencing Center (R.C., Yumei Li, S.K.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX
| | - Hong S Lu
- Saha Cardiovascular Research Center (H.S.L., A. Daugherty), University of Kentucky, Lexington.,Department of Physiology (H.S.L., A. Daugherty), University of Kentucky, Lexington
| | - Lisa A Cassis
- Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences (L.A.C.), University of Kentucky, Lexington
| | - Joseph S Coselli
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Cardiovascular Research Institute (J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.)
| | - Alan Daugherty
- Saha Cardiovascular Research Center (H.S.L., A. Daugherty), University of Kentucky, Lexington.,Department of Physiology (H.S.L., A. Daugherty), University of Kentucky, Lexington
| | - Ying H Shen
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Cardiovascular Research Institute (J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.)
| | - Scott A LeMaire
- Division of Cardiothoracic Surgery, Michael E. DeBakey Department of Surgery (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Cardiovascular Research Institute (J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Molecular Physiology and Biophysics (S.A.L.), Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX.,Department of Cardiovascular Surgery, Texas Heart Institute, Houston (Yanming Li, P.R., A. Dawson, H.G.V., W.A., C.Z., W.L., J.S.C., Y.H.S., S.A.L.)
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