Cross-tissue, single-cell stromal atlas identifies shared pathological fibroblast phenotypes in four chronic inflammatory diseases
Korsunsky, Ilya Wei, Kevin Pohin, Mathilde Kim, Edy Y Barone, Francesca Major, Triin Taylor, Emily Ravindran, Rahul Kemble, Samuel Watts, Gerald F M
Korsunsky, Ilya
Wei, Kevin
Pohin, Mathilde
Kim, Edy Y
Barone, Francesca
Major, Triin
Taylor, Emily
Ravindran, Rahul
Kemble, Samuel
Watts, Gerald F M
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2022-05-31
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Abstract
Background: Pro-inflammatory fibroblasts are critical for pathogenesis in rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, interstitial lung disease, and Sjögren's syndrome and represent a novel therapeutic target for chronic inflammatory disease. However, the heterogeneity of fibroblast phenotypes, exacerbated by the lack of a common cross-tissue taxonomy, has limited our understanding of which pathways are shared by multiple diseases.
Methods: We profiled fibroblasts derived from inflamed and non-inflamed synovium, intestine, lungs, and salivary glands from affected individuals with single-cell RNA sequencing. We integrated all fibroblasts into a multi-tissue atlas to characterize shared and tissue-specific phenotypes.
Findings: Two shared clusters, CXCL10+CCL19+ immune-interacting and SPARC+COL3A1+ vascular-interacting fibroblasts, were expanded in all inflamed tissues and mapped to dermal analogs in a public atopic dermatitis atlas. We confirmed these human pro-inflammatory fibroblasts in animal models of lung, joint, and intestinal inflammation.
Conclusions: This work represents a thorough investigation into fibroblasts across organ systems, individual donors, and disease states that reveals shared pathogenic activation states across four chronic inflammatory diseases.
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Korsunsky I, Wei K, Pohin M, Kim EY, Barone F, Major T, Taylor E, Ravindran R, Kemble S, Watts GFM, Jonsson AH, Jeong Y, Athar H, Windell D, Kang JB, Friedrich M, Turner J, Nayar S, Fisher BA, Raza K, Marshall JL, Croft AP, Tamura T, Sholl LM, Vivero M, Rosas IO, Bowman SJ, Coles M, Frei AP, Lassen K, Filer A, Powrie F, Buckley CD, Brenner MB, Raychaudhuri S. Cross-tissue, single-cell stromal atlas identifies shared pathological fibroblast phenotypes in four chronic inflammatory diseases. Med. 2022 Jul 8;3(7):481-518.e14. doi: 10.1016/j.medj.2022.05.002. Epub 2022 May 31.
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