Integrative analysis reveals mouse strain-dependent responses to acute ozone exposure associated with airway macrophage transcriptional activity

Acute ozone (O3) exposure is associated with multiple adverse cardiorespiratory outcomes, the severity of which varies across individuals in human populations and inbred mouse strains. However, molecular determinants of response, including susceptibility biomarkers that distinguish who will develop severe injury and inflammation, are not well characterized. We and others have demonstrated that airway macrophages (AMs) are an important resident immune cell type that are functionally and transcriptionally responsive to O3 inhalation. Here, we sought to explore influences of strain, exposure, and strain-by-O3 exposure interactions on AM gene expression and identify transcriptional correlates of O3-induced inflammation and injury across 6 mouse strains, including 5 Collaborative Cross (CC) strains. We exposed adult mice of both sexes to filtered air (FA) or 2 ppm O3 for 3 hours, and measured inflammatory and injury parameters 21 hours later. Mice exposed to O3 developed airway neutrophilia and lung injury with strain-dependent severity. In AMs, we identified a common core O3 response signature across all strains, as well as a set of genes exhibiting strain-by-O3 exposure interactions. In particular, a prominent gene expression contrast emerged between a low- (CC017/Unc) and high-responding (CC003/Unc) strain, as reflected by cellular inflammation and injury. Further inspection indicated that differences in their baseline gene expression and chromatin accessibility profiles likely contributes to their divergent post-O3 exposure transcriptional responses. Together, these results suggest that aspects of O3-induced respiratory responses are mediated through altered AM transcriptional signatures, and further confirms the importance of gene-environment interactions in mediating differential responsiveness to environmental agents.