scholarly journals Single-Cell RNA-Sequencing and Metabolomics Analyses Reveal the Contribution of Perivascular Adipose Tissue Stem Cells to Vascular Remodeling

2019 ◽  
Vol 39 (10) ◽  
pp. 2049-2066 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wenduo Gu ◽  
Witold N. Nowak ◽  
Yao Xie ◽  
Alexandra Le Bras ◽  
Yanhua Hu ◽  
...  

Objective: Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) plays a vital role in maintaining vascular homeostasis. However, most studies ascribed the function of PVAT in vascular remodeling to adipokines secreted by the perivascular adipocytes. Whether mesenchymal stem cells exist in PVAT and play a role in vascular regeneration remain unknown. Approach and Results: Single-cell RNA-sequencing allowed direct visualization of the heterogeneous PVAT-derived mesenchymal stem cells (PV-ADSCs) at a high resolution and revealed 2 distinct subpopulations, among which one featured signaling pathways crucial for smooth muscle differentiation. Pseudotime analysis of cultured PV-ADSCs unraveled their smooth muscle differentiation trajectory. Transplantation of cultured PV-ADSCs in mouse vein graft model suggested the contribution of PV-ADSCs to vascular remodeling through smooth muscle differentiation. Mechanistically, treatment with TGF-β1 (transforming growth factor β1) and transfection of microRNA (miR)-378a-3p mimics induced a similar metabolic reprogramming of PV-ADSCs, including upregulated mitochondrial potential and altered lipid levels, such as increased cholesterol and promoted smooth muscle differentiation. Conclusions: Single-cell RNA-sequencing allows direct visualization of PV-ADSC heterogeneity at a single-cell level and uncovers 2 subpopulations with distinct signature genes and signaling pathways. The function of PVAT in vascular regeneration is partly attributed to PV-ADSCs and their differentiation towards smooth muscle lineage. Mechanistic study presents miR-378a-3p which is a potent regulator of metabolic reprogramming as a potential therapeutic target for vascular regeneration.

2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dandan Cao ◽  
Rachel W. S. Chan ◽  
Ernest H. Y. Ng ◽  
Kristina Gemzell-Danielsson ◽  
William S. B. Yeung

Abstract Background Endometrial mesenchymal-like stromal/stem cells (eMSCs) have been proposed as adult stem cells contributing to endometrial regeneration. One set of perivascular markers (CD140b&CD146) has been widely used to enrich eMSCs. Although eMSCs are easily accessible for regenerative medicine and have long been studied, their cellular heterogeneity, relationship to primary counterpart, remains largely unclear. Methods In this study, we applied 10X genomics single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) to cultured human CD140b+CD146+ endometrial perivascular cells (ePCs) from menstrual and secretory endometrium. We also analyzed publicly available scRNA-seq data of primary endometrium and performed transcriptome comparison between cultured ePCs and primary ePCs at single-cell level. Results Transcriptomic expression-based clustering revealed limited heterogeneity within cultured menstrual and secretory ePCs. A main subpopulation and a small stress-induced subpopulation were identified in secretory and menstrual ePCs. Cell identity analysis demonstrated the similar cellular composition in secretory and menstrual ePCs. Marker gene expression analysis showed that the main subpopulations identified from cultured secretory and menstrual ePCs simultaneously expressed genes marking mesenchymal stem cell (MSC), perivascular cell, smooth muscle cell, and stromal fibroblast. GO enrichment analysis revealed that genes upregulated in the main subpopulation enriched in actin filament organization, cellular division, etc., while genes upregulated in the small subpopulation enriched in extracellular matrix disassembly, stress response, etc. By comparing subpopulations of cultured ePCs to the publicly available primary endometrial cells, it was found that the main subpopulation identified from cultured ePCs was culture-unique which was unlike primary ePCs or primary endometrial stromal fibroblast cells. Conclusion In summary, these data for the first time provides a single-cell atlas of the cultured human CD140b+CD146+ ePCs. The identification of culture-unique relatively homogenous cell population of CD140b+CD146+ ePCs underscores the importance of in vivo microenvironment in maintaining cellular identity.


2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Amit Grover ◽  
Alejandra Sanjuan-Pla ◽  
Supat Thongjuea ◽  
Joana Carrelha ◽  
Alice Giustacchini ◽  
...  

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Guizhen Zhao ◽  
Haocheng Lu ◽  
Ziyi Chang ◽  
Yang Zhao ◽  
Tianqing Zhu ◽  
...  

Abstract Aims The artery contains numerous cell types which contribute to multiple vascular diseases. However, the heterogeneity and cellular responses of these vascular cells during abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) progression have not been well characterized. Methods and results Single-cell RNA sequencing was performed on the infrarenal abdominal aortas (IAAs) from C57BL/6J mice at Days 7 and 14 post-sham or peri-adventitial elastase-induced AAA. Unbiased clustering analysis of the transcriptional profiles from >4500 aortic cells identified 17 clusters representing nine-cell lineages, encompassing vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs), fibroblasts, endothelial cells, immune cells (macrophages, T cells, B cells, and dendritic cells), and two types of rare cells, including neural cells and erythrocyte cells. Seurat clustering analysis identified four smooth muscle cell (SMC) subpopulations and five monocyte/macrophage subpopulations, with distinct transcriptional profiles. During AAA progression, three major SMC subpopulations were proportionally decreased, whereas the small subpopulation was increased, accompanied with down-regulation of SMC contractile markers and up-regulation of pro-inflammatory genes. Another AAA-associated cellular response is immune cell expansion, particularly monocytes/macrophages. Elastase exposure induced significant expansion and activation of aortic resident macrophages, blood-derived monocytes and inflammatory macrophages. We also identified increased blood-derived reparative macrophages expressing anti-inflammatory cytokines suggesting that resolution of inflammation and vascular repair also persist during AAA progression. Conclusion Our data identify AAA disease-relevant transcriptional signatures of vascular cells in the IAA. Furthermore, we characterize the heterogeneity and cellular responses of VSMCs and monocytes/macrophages during AAA progression, which provide insights into their function and the regulation of AAA onset and progression.


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