Academic Journal

Single-cell transcriptomics highlights immunological dysregulations of monocytes in the pathobiology of COPD

Bibliographic Details
Title: Single-cell transcriptomics highlights immunological dysregulations of monocytes in the pathobiology of COPD
Authors: Qiqing Huang, Yuanyuan Wang, Lili Zhang, Wei Qian, Shaoran Shen, Jingshen Wang, Shuangshuang Wu, Wei Xu, Bo Chen, Mingyan Lin, Jianqing Wu
Source: Respiratory Research, Vol 23, Iss 1, Pp 1-23 (2022)
Publisher Information: BMC, 2022.
Publication Year: 2022
Collection: LCC:Diseases of the respiratory system
Subject Terms: COPD, Aging, Smoking, Single-cell RNA sequencing, Monocytes, Diseases of the respiratory system, RC705-779
Description: Abstract Background Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a common respiratory disease, whose pathogenetic complexity was strongly associated with aging/smoking and poorly understood. Methods Here we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) analysis of 66,610 cells from COPD and age-stratified control lung tissues of donors with different smoking histories to prioritize cell types most perturbed in COPD lungs in aging/smoking dependent or independent manner. By performing an array of advanced bioinformatic analyses, such as gene set enrichment analysis, trajectory analysis, cell–cell interactions analysis, regulatory potential analysis, weighted correlation network analysis, functional interaction analysis, and gene set variation analysis, we integrated cell-type-level alterations into a system-level malfunction and provided a more clarified COPD pathological model containing specific mechanisms by which aging and smoking facilitate COPD development. Finally, we integrated the publicly available scRNA-seq data of 9 individuals, resulting in a total of 110,931 cells, and replicated the analyses to enhance the credibility of our findings. Results Our study pointed to enrichment of COPD molecular alteration in monocytes, which further induced a previously unrecognized pro-inflammatory effect on alveolar epithelial cells. In addition, aged monocytes and club cells facilitated COPD development via maintaining an autoimmune airway niche. Unexpectedly, macrophages, whose defect to resolve inflammation was long-recognized in COPD pathogenesis, primarily induced an imbalance of sphingolipids rheostat in a smoking-dependent way. These findings were validated in a meta-analysis including other public single-cell transcriptomic data. Conclusions In sum, our study provided a clarified view of COPD pathogenesis and demonstrated the potential of targeting monocytes in COPD diagnosis and treatment.
Document Type: article
File Description: electronic resource
Language: English
ISSN: 1465-993X
Relation: https://doaj.org/toc/1465-993X
DOI: 10.1186/s12931-022-02293-2
Access URL: https://doaj.org/article/88ae95d5a3c44f3b81c820641c60cfee
Accession Number: edsdoj.88ae95d5a3c44f3b81c820641c60cfee
Database: Directory of Open Access Journals
Description
ISSN:1465993X
DOI:10.1186/s12931-022-02293-2