bioRxiv Science⌕ Search

Biology subjects

Slyper, M.

Publications and source records attributed to Slyper, M..

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources

A spatial cell atlas of neuroblastoma reveals developmental, epigenetic and spatial axis of tumor heterogeneity

Neuroblastoma is a pediatric cancer arising from the developing sympathoadrenal lineage with complex inter- and intra-tumoral heterogeneity. To chart this complexity, we generated a comprehensive cell atlas of 55 neuroblastoma patient tumors, collected from two pediatric cancer institutions, spanning a range of clinical, genetic, and histologic features. Our atlas combines single-cell/nucleus RNA-seq (sc/scRNA-seq), bulk RNA-seq, whole exome sequencing, DNA methylation profiling, spatial transcriptomics, and two spatial proteomic methods. Sc/snRNA-seq revealed three malignant cell states with features of sympathoadrenal lineage development. All of the neuroblastomas had malignant cells that resembled sympathoblasts and the more differentiated adrenergic cells. A subset of tumors had malignant cells in a mesenchymal cell state with molecular features of Schwann cell precursors. DNA methylation profiles defined four groupings of patients, which differ in the degree of malignant cell heterogeneity and clinical outcomes. Using spatial proteomics, we found that neuroblastomas are spatially compartmentalized, with malignant tumor cells sequestered away from immune cells. Finally, we identify spatially restricted signaling patterns in immune cells from spatial transcriptomics. To facilitate the visualization and analysis of our atlas as a resource for further research in neuroblastoma, single cell, and spatial-omics, all data are shared through the Human Tumor Atlas Network Data Commons at www.humantumoratlas.org.

cancer biology↗

A deep lung cell atlas reveals cytokine-mediated lineage switching of a rare cell progenitor of the human airway epithelium

The human airway contains specialized rare epithelial cells whose roles in respiratory disease are not well understood. Ionocytes express the Cystic Fibrosis Transmembrane Conductance Regulator (CFTR), while chemosensory tuft cells express asthma-associated alarmins. However, surprisingly, exceedingly few mature tuft cells have been identified in human lung cell atlases despite the ready identification of rare ionocytes and neuroendocrine cells. To identify human rare cell progenitors and define their lineage relationship to mature tuft cells, we generated a deep lung cell atlas containing 311,748 single cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-seq) profiles from discrete anatomic sites along the large and small airways and lung lobes of explanted donor lungs that could not be used for organ transplantation. Of 154,222 airway epithelial cells, we identified 687 ionocytes (0.45%) that are present in similar proportions in both large and small airways, suggesting that they may contribute to both large and small airways pathologies in CF. In stark contrast, we recovered only 3 mature tuft cells (0.002%). Instead, we identified rare bipotent progenitor cells that can give rise to both ionocytes and tuft cells, which we termed tuft-ionocyte progenitor cells (TIP cells). Remarkably, the cycling fraction of these TIP cells was comparable to that of basal stem cells. We used scRNA-seq and scATAC-seq to predict transcription factors that mark this novel rare cell progenitor population and define intermediate states during TIP cell lineage transitions en route to the differentiation of mature ionocytes and tuft cells. The default lineage of TIP cell descendants is skewed towards ionocytes, explaining the paucity of mature tuft cells in the human airway. However, Type 2 and Type 17 cytokines, associated with asthma and CF, diverted the lineage of TIP cell descendants in vitro, resulting in the differentiation of mature tuft cells at the expense of ionocytes. Consistent with this model of mature tuft cell differentiation, we identify mature tuft cells in a patient who died from an asthma flare. Overall, our findings suggest that the immune signaling pathways active in asthma and CF may skew the composition of disease-relevant rare cells and illustrate how deep atlases are required for identifying physiologically-relevant scarce cell populations.

cell biology↗

Multi-modal skin atlas associates a multicellular immune-stromal community with altered cornification and T cell expansion in atopic dermatitis

In healthy skin, a cutaneous immune system maintains the balance between tolerance towards innocuous environmental antigens and immune responses against pathological agents. In atopic dermatitis (AD), barrier and immune dysfunction result in chronic tissue inflammation. Our understanding of the skin tissue ecosystem in AD remains incomplete with regard to the hallmarks of pathological barrier formation, and cellular state and clonal composition of disease-promoting cells. Here, we generated a multi-modal cell census of 310,691 cells spanning 86 cell subsets from whole skin tissue of 19 adult individuals, including non-lesional and lesional skin from 11 AD patients, and integrated it with 396,321 cells from four studies into a comprehensive human skin cell atlas in health and disease. Reconstruction of human keratinocyte differentiation from basal to cornified layers revealed a disrupted cornification trajectory in AD. This disrupted epithelial differentiation was associated with signals from a unique immune and stromal multicellular community comprised of MMP12+ dendritic cells (DCs), mature migratory DCs, cycling ILCs, NK cells, inflammatory CCL19+ IL4I1+ fibroblasts, and clonally expanded IL13+IL22+IL26+ T cells with overlapping type 2 and type 17 characteristics. Cell subsets within this immune and stromal multicellular community were connected by multiple inter-cellular positive feedback loops predicted to impact community assembly and maintenance. AD GWAS gene expression was enriched both in disrupted cornified keratinocytes and in cell subsets from the lesional immune and stromal multicellular community including IL13+IL22+IL26+ T cells and ILCs, suggesting that epithelial or immune dysfunction in the context of the observed cellular communication network can initiate and then converge towards AD. Our work highlights specific, disease-associated cell subsets and interactions as potential targets in progression and resolution of chronic inflammation.

molecular biology↗

A cellular and spatial atlas of TP53-associated tissue remodeling in lung adenocarcinoma

TP53 is the most frequently mutated gene across many cancers and is associated with shorter survival in lung adenocarcinoma (LUAD). To define how TP53 mutations affect the LUAD tumor microenvironment (TME), we constructed a multi-omic cellular and spatial tumor atlas of 23 treatment-naive human lung tumors. We found that TP53-mutant (TP53mut) malignant cells lose alveolar identity and upregulate highly proliferative and entropic gene expression programs consistently across resectable LUAD patient tumors, genetically engineered mouse models, and cell lines harboring a wide spectrum of TP53 mutations. We further identified a multicellular tumor niche composed of SPP1+ macrophages and collagen-expressing fibroblasts that coincides with hypoxic, pro-metastatic expression programs in TP53mut tumors. Spatially correlated angiostatic and immune checkpoint interactions, including CD274-PDCD1 and PVR-TIGIT, are also enriched in TP53mut LUAD tumors, which may influence response to checkpoint blockade therapy. Our methodology can be further applied to investigate mutation-specific TME changes in other cancers.

cancer biology↗

Inference of single cell profiles from histology stains with the Single-Cell omics from Histology Analysis Framework (SCHAF)

Tissue biology involves an intricate balance between cell-intrinsic processes and interactions between cells organized in specific spatial patterns, which can be respectively captured by single cell profiling methods, such as single cell RNA-seq (scRNA-seq) and spatial transcriptomics, and histology imaging data, such as Hematoxylin-and-Eosin (H&E) stains. While single cell profiles provide rich molecular information, they can be challenging to collect routinely in the clinic and either lack spatial resolution or high gene throughput. Conversely, histological H&E assays have been a cornerstone of tissue pathology for decades, but do not directly report on molecular details, although the observed structure they capture arises from molecules and cells. Here, we leverage vision transformers and adversarial deep learning to develop the Single Cell omics from Histology Analysis Framework (SCHAF), which generates a tissue samples spatially-resolved whole transcriptome single cell omics dataset from its H&E histology image. We demonstrate SCHAF on a variety of tissues-- including lung cancer, metastatic breast cancer, placentae, and whole mouse pups--training with matched samples analyzed by sc/snRNA-seq, H&E staining, and, when available, spatial transcriptomics. SCHAF generated appropriate single cell profiles from histology images in test data, related them spatially, and compared well to ground-truth scRNA-Seq, expert pathologist annotations, or direct spatial transcriptomic measurements, with some limitations. SCHAF opens the way to next-generation H&E analyses and an integrated understanding of cell and tissue biology in health and disease.

bioinformatics↗

SlideCNA: Spatial copy number alteration detection from Slide-seq-like spatial transcriptomics data

Solid tumors are spatially heterogeneous in their genetic, molecular and cellular composition, and this variation can be meaningful for diagnosis, prognosis and therapy. Recent spatial profiling studies have mostly charted genetic and RNA variation in tumors separately. To leverage the potential of RNA to identify copy number alterations (CNAs), we developed SlideCNA, a computational tool to extract sparse spatial CNA signals from spatial transcriptomics data, using expression-aware spatial binning. We test SlideCNA on simulated and real Slide-seq data of metastatic breast cancer (MBC) and demonstrate its potential for spatial sub-clone detection.

bioinformatics↗

A single-nucleus and spatial transcriptomic atlas of the COVID-19 liver reveals topological, functional, and regenerative organ disruption in patients

The molecular underpinnings of organ dysfunction in acute COVID-19 and its potential long-term sequelae are under intense investigation. To shed light on these in the context of liver function, we performed single-nucleus RNA-seq and spatial transcriptomic profiling of livers from 17 COVID-19 decedents. We identified hepatocytes positive for SARS-CoV-2 RNA with an expression phenotype resembling infected lung epithelial cells. Integrated analysis and comparisons with healthy controls revealed extensive changes in the cellular composition and expression states in COVID-19 liver, reflecting hepatocellular injury, ductular reaction, pathologic vascular expansion, and fibrogenesis. We also observed Kupffer cell proliferation and erythrocyte progenitors for the first time in a human liver single-cell atlas, resembling similar responses in liver injury in mice and in sepsis, respectively. Despite the absence of a clinical acute liver injury phenotype, endothelial cell composition was dramatically impacted in COVID-19, concomitantly with extensive alterations and profibrogenic activation of reactive cholangiocytes and mesenchymal cells. Our atlas provides novel insights into liver physiology and pathology in COVID-19 and forms a foundational resource for its investigation and understanding.

genomics↗

Accelerated cognitive decline in obese mouse model of Alzheimer's disease is linked to sialic acid-driven immune deregulation

Systemic immunity supports healthy brain homeostasis. Accordingly, conditions causing systemic immune deregulation may accelerate onset of neurodegeneration in predisposed individuals. Here we show that, in the 5xFAD mouse model of Alzheimers disease (AD), high-fat diet-induced obesity accelerated cognitive decline, which was associated with immune deviations comprising increased splenic frequencies of exhausted CD4+ T effector memory cells and CD4+FOXP3+ regulatory T cells (Tregs). Non-targeted plasma metabolomics identified N-acetylneuraminic acid (NANA), the predominant sialic acid, as the major obesity-induced metabolite in 5xFAD mice, the levels of which directly correlated with Tregs abundance and inversely correlated with cognitive performance. Visceral adipose tissue macrophages were identified by sNuc-Seq as one potential source of NANA. Exposure to NANA led to immune deregulation in middle-aged wild-type mice, and ex vivo in human T cells. Our study identified diet-induced immune deregulation, potentially via sialic acid, as a previously unrecognized link between obesity and AD.

neuroscience↗

Single-nucleus cross-tissue molecular reference maps to decipher disease gene function

Understanding the function of genes and their regulation in tissue homeostasis and disease requires knowing the cellular context in which genes are expressed in tissues across the body. Single cell genomics allows the generation of detailed cellular atlases in human tissues, but most efforts are focused on single tissue types. Here, we establish a framework for profiling multiple tissues across the human body at single-cell resolution using single nucleus RNA-Seq (snRNA-seq), and apply it to 8 diverse, archived, frozen tissue types (three donors per tissue). We apply four snRNA-seq methods to each of 25 samples from 16 donors, generating a cross-tissue atlas of 209,126 nuclei profiles, and benchmark them vs. scRNA-seq of comparable fresh tissues. We use a conditional variational autoencoder (cVAE) to integrate an atlas across tissues, donors, and laboratory methods. We highlight shared and tissue-specific features of tissue-resident immune cells, identifying tissue-restricted and non-restricted resident myeloid populations. These include a cross-tissue conserved dichotomy between LYVE1- and HLA class II-expressing macrophages, and the broad presence of LAM-like macrophages across healthy tissues that is also observed in disease. For rare, monogenic muscle diseases, we identify cell types that likely underlie the neuromuscular, metabolic, and immune components of these diseases, and biological processes involved in their pathology. For common complex diseases and traits analyzed by GWAS, we identify the cell types and gene modules that potentially underlie disease mechanisms. The experimental and analytical frameworks we describe will enable the generation of large-scale studies of how cellular and molecular processes vary across individuals and populations.

cell biology↗

Obesity-instructed TREM2high macrophages identified by comparative analysis of diabetic mouse and human kidney at single cell resolution

Mouse models are a tool for studying the mechanisms underlying complex diseases; however, differences between species pose a significant challenge for translating findings to patients. Here, we used single-cell transcriptomics and orthogonal validation approaches to provide cross-species taxonomies, identifying shared broad cell classes and unique granular cellular states, between mouse and human kidney. We generated cell atlases of the diabetic and obese kidney using two different mouse models, a high-fat diet (HFD) model and a genetic model (BTBR ob/ob), at multiple time points along disease progression. Importantly, we identified a previously unrecognized, expanding Trem2high macrophage population in kidneys of HFD mice that matched human TREM2high macrophages in obese patients. Taken together, our cross-species comparison highlights shared immune and metabolic cell-state changes.

genomics↗

Single Cell, Single Nucleus and Spatial RNA Sequencing of the Human Liver Identifies Hepatic Stellate Cell and Cholangiocyte Heterogeneity

The critical functions of the human liver are coordinated through the interactions of hepatic parenchymal and non-parenchymal cells. Recent advances in single cell transcriptional approaches have enabled an examination of the human liver with unprecedented resolution. However, dissociation related cell perturbation can limit the ability to fully capture the human livers parenchymal cell fraction, which limits the ability to comprehensively profile this organ. Here, we report the transcriptional landscape of 73,295 cells from the human liver using matched single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq). The addition of snRNA-seq enabled the characterization of interzonal hepatocytes at single-cell resolution, revealed the presence of rare subtypes of hepatic stellate cells previously only seen in disease, and detection of cholangiocyte progenitors that had only been observed during in vitro differentiation experiments. However, T and B lymphocytes and NK cells were only distinguishable using scRNA-seq, highlighting the importance of applying both technologies to obtain a complete map of tissue-resident cell-types. We validated the distinct spatial distribution of the hepatocyte, cholangiocyte and stellate cell populations by an independent spatial transcriptomics dataset and immunohistochemistry. Our study provides a systematic comparison of the transcriptomes captured by scRNA-seq and snRNA-seq and delivers a high-resolution map of the parenchymal cell populations in the healthy human liver.

cell biology↗

A single-cell and spatial atlas of autopsy tissues reveals pathology and cellular targets of SARS-CoV-2

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has caused over 1 million deaths globally, mostly due to acute lung injury and acute respiratory distress syndrome, or direct complications resulting in multiple-organ failures. Little is known about the host tissue immune and cellular responses associated with COVID-19 infection, symptoms, and lethality. To address this, we collected tissues from 11 organs during the clinical autopsy of 17 individuals who succumbed to COVID-19, resulting in a tissue bank of approximately 420 specimens. We generated comprehensive cellular maps capturing COVID-19 biology related to patients demise through single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-Seq of lung, kidney, liver and heart tissues, and further contextualized our findings through spatial RNA profiling of distinct lung regions. We developed a computational framework that incorporates removal of ambient RNA and automated cell type annotation to facilitate comparison with other healthy and diseased tissue atlases. In the lung, we uncovered significantly altered transcriptional programs within the epithelial, immune, and stromal compartments and cell intrinsic changes in multiple cell types relative to lung tissue from healthy controls. We observed evidence of: alveolar type 2 (AT2) differentiation replacing depleted alveolar type 1 (AT1) lung epithelial cells, as previously seen in fibrosis; a concomitant increase in myofibroblasts reflective of defective tissue repair; and, putative TP63+ intrapulmonary basal-like progenitor (IPBLP) cells, similar to cells identified in H1N1 influenza, that may serve as an emergency cellular reserve for severely damaged alveoli. Together, these findings suggest the activation and failure of multiple avenues for regeneration of the epithelium in these terminal lungs. SARS-CoV-2 RNA reads were enriched in lung mononuclear phagocytic cells and endothelial cells, and these cells expressed distinct host response transcriptional programs. We corroborated the compositional and transcriptional changes in lung tissue through spatial analysis of RNA profiles in situ and distinguished unique tissue host responses between regions with and without viral RNA, and in COVID-19 donor tissues relative to healthy lung. Finally, we analyzed genetic regions implicated in COVID-19 GWAS with transcriptomic data to implicate specific cell types and genes associated with disease severity. Overall, our COVID-19 cell atlas is a foundational dataset to better understand the biological impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection across the human body and empowers the identification of new therapeutic interventions and prevention strategies.

genomics↗

RAAS blockade, kidney disease, and expression of ACE2, the entry receptor for SARS-CoV-2, in kidney epithelial and endothelial cells

SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, binds to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) on human cells. Beyond the lung, COVID-19 impacts diverse tissues including the kidney. ACE2 is a key member of the Renin-Angiotensin-Aldosterone System (RAAS) which regulates blood pressure, largely through its effects on the kidney. RAAS blockers such as ACE inhibitors (ACEi) and Angiotensin Receptor Blockers (ARBs) are widely used therapies for hypertension, cardiovascular and chronic kidney diseases, and therefore, there is intense interest in their effect on ACE2 expression and its implications for SARS-CoV-2 pathogenicity. Here, we analyzed single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-seq of human kidney to interrogate the association of ACEi/ARB use with ACE2 expression in specific cell types. First, we performed an integrated analysis aggregating 176,421 cells across 49 donors, 8 studies and 8 centers, and adjusting for sex, age, donor and center effects, to assess the relationship of ACE2 with age and sex at baseline. We observed a statistically significant increase in ACE2 expression in tubular epithelial cells of the thin loop of Henle (tLoH) in males relative to females at younger ages, the trend reversing, and losing significance with older ages. ACE2 expression in tLoH increases with age in females, with an opposite, weak effect in males. In an independent cohort, we detected a statistically significant increase in ACE2 expression with ACEi/ARB use in epithelial cells of the proximal tubule and thick ascending limb, and endothelial cells, but the association was confounded in this small cohort by the underlying disease. Our study illuminates the dynamics of ACE2 expression in specific kidney cells, with implications for SARS-CoV-2 entry and pathogenicity.

genomics↗

Expansion Sequencing: Spatially Precise In Situ Transcriptomics in Intact Biological Systems

AbstractMethods for highly multiplexed RNA imaging are limited in spatial resolution, and thus in their ability to localize transcripts to nanoscale and subcellular compartments. We adapt expansion microscopy, which physically expands biological specimens, for long-read untargeted and targeted in situ RNA sequencing. We applied untargeted expansion sequencing (ExSeq) to mouse brain, yielding readout of thousands of genes, including splice variants and novel transcripts. Targeted ExSeq yielded nanoscale-resolution maps of RNAs throughout dendrites and spines in neurons of the mouse hippocampus, revealing patterns across multiple cell types; layer-specific cell types across mouse visual cortex; and the organization and position-dependent states of tumor and immune cells in a human metastatic breast cancer biopsy. Thus ExSeq enables highly multiplexed mapping of RNAs, from nanoscale to system scale. One Sentence SummaryIn situ sequencing of physically expanded specimens enables multiplexed mapping of RNAs at nanoscale, subcellular resolution.

genomics↗

Single cell profiling of immature human postnatal thymocytes resolves the complexity of intra-thymic lineage differentiation and thymus seeding precursors.

During postnatal life, thymopoiesis depends on the continuous colonization of the thymus by bone marrow derived hematopoietic progenitors that migrate through the bloodstream. In human, the nature of these thymus immigrants has remained unclear. Here, we employ single-cell RNA sequencing on approximately 70.000 CD34+ thymocytes to unravel the heterogeneity of the human immature postnatal thymocytes. Integration of bone marrow and peripheral blood precursors datasets identifies several putative thymus seeding precursors that display heterogeneity for currently used surface markers as revealed by CITEseq. Besides T cell precursors, we discover branches of intrathymic developing dendritic cells with predominantly plasmacytoid DCs. Trough trajectory inference, we delineate the transcriptional dynamics underlying early human T-lineage development from which we predict transcription factor modules that drive stage-specific steps of human T cell development. Thus, our work resolves the heterogeneity of thymus seeding precursors in human and reveals the molecular mechanisms that drive their in vivo cell fate.

immunology↗

Single-nucleus RNA-Seq reveals a new type of brown adipocyte regulating thermogenesis

Adipose tissue usually is classified as either white, brown or beige/brite, based on whether it functions as an energy storage or thermogenic organ(Cannon and Nedergaard, 2004; Rosen and Spiegelman, 2014). It serves as an important regulator of systemic metabolism, exemplified by the fact that dysfunctional adipose tissue in obesity leads to a host of secondary metabolic complications such as diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and cancer(Hajer et al., 2008; Lauby-Secretan et al., 2016). In addition, adipose tissue is an important endocrine organ, which regulates the function of other metabolic tissues through paracrine and endocrine signals(Scheele and Wolfrum, 2019; Scherer, 2006). Work in recent years has demonstrated that tissue heterogeneity is an important factor regulating the functionality of various organs(Cao et al., 2017; Ginhoux et al., 2016; Park et al., 2018). Here we used single nucleus analysis in mice and men to deconvolute adipocyte heterogeneity. We are able to identify a novel subpopulation of adipocytes whose abundance is low in mice (2-8%) and which is increased under higher ambient temperatures. Interestingly, this population is abundant in humans who live close to thermoneutrality. We demonstrate that this novel adipocyte subtype functions as a paracrine cell regulating the activity of brown adipocytes through acetate-mediated regulation of thermogenesis. These findings could explain, why human brown adipose tissue is substantially less active than mouse tissue and targeting this pathway in humans might be utilized to restore thermogenic activity of this tissue.

cell biology↗

Cumulus: a cloud-based data analysis framework for large-scale single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-seq

Massively parallel single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-seq (sc/snRNA-seq) have opened the way to systematic tissue atlases in health and disease, but as the scale of data generation is growing, so does the need for computational pipelines for scaled analysis. Here, we developed Cumulus, a cloud-based framework for analyzing large scale sc/snRNA-seq datasets. Cumulus combines the power of cloud computing with improvements in algorithm implementations to achieve high scalability, low cost, user-friendliness, and integrated support for a comprehensive set of features. We benchmark Cumulus on the Human Cell Atlas Census of Immune Cells dataset of bone marrow cells and show that it substantially improves efficiency over conventional frameworks, while maintaining or improving the quality of results, enabling large-scale studies.

bioinformatics↗

A single-cell and single-nucleus RNA-seq toolbox for fresh and frozen human tumors

Single cell genomics is essential to chart the complex tumor ecosystem. While single cell RNA-Seq (scRNA-Seq) profiles RNA from cells dissociated from fresh tumor tissues, single nucleus RNA-Seq (snRNA-Seq) is needed to profile frozen or hard-to-dissociate tumors. Each strategy requires modifications to fit the unique characteristics of different tissue and tumor types, posing a barrier to adoption. Here, we developed a systematic toolbox for profiling fresh and frozen clinical tumor samples using scRNA-Seq and snRNA-Seq, respectively. We tested eight tumor types of varying tissue and sample characteristics (resection, biopsy, ascites, and orthotopic patient-derived xenograft): lung cancer, metastatic breast cancer, ovarian cancer, melanoma, neuroblastoma, pediatric sarcoma, glioblastoma, pediatric high-grade glioma, and chronic lymphocytic leukemia. Analyzing 212,498 cells and nuclei from 39 clinical samples, we evaluated protocols by cell quality, recovery rate, and cellular composition. We optimized protocols for fresh tissue dissociation for different tumor types using a decision tree to account for the technical and biological variation between clinical samples. We established methods for nucleus isolation from OCT embedded and fresh-frozen tissues, with an optimization matrix varying mechanical force, buffer, and detergent. scRNA-Seq and snRNA-Seq from matched samples recovered the same cell types and intrinsic expression profiles, but at different proportions. Our work provides direct guidance across a broad range of tumors, including criteria for testing and selecting methods from the toolbox for other tumors, thus paving the way for charting tumor atlases.

genomics↗