An iPSC-derived small intestine-on-chip with self-organizing epithelial, mesenchymal, and neural cells.

Human induced pluripotent stem cell (hiPSC)-derived intestinal organoids are valuable tools for researching developmental biology and personalized therapies, but their closed topology and relative immature state limit applications. Here, we use organ-on-chip technology to develop a hiPSC-derived intestinal barrier with apical and basolateral access in a more physiological in vitro microenvironment. To replicate growth factor gradients along the crypt-villus axis, we locally expose the cells to expansion and differentiation media. In these conditions, intestinal epithelial cells self-organize into villus-like folds with physiological barrier integrity, and myofibroblasts and neurons emerge and form a subepithelial tissue in the bottom channel. The growth factor gradients efficiently balance dividing and mature cell types and induce an intestinal epithelial composition, including absorptive and secretory lineages, resembling the composition of the human small intestine. This well-characterized hiPSC-derived intestine-on-chip system can facilitate personalized studies on physiological processes and therapy development in the human small intestine.

Single-Cell Dissection of the Immune Response After Acute Myocardial Infarction.

BACKGROUND: The immune system's role in ST-segment-elevated myocardial infarction (STEMI) remains poorly characterized but is an important driver of recurrent cardiovascular events. While anti-inflammatory drugs show promise in reducing recurrence risk, their broad immune system impairment may induce severe side effects. To overcome these challenges, a nuanced understanding of the immune response to STEMI is needed. METHODS: For this, we compared peripheral blood mononuclear single-cell RNA-sequencing (scRNA-seq) and plasma protein expression over time (hospital admission, 24 hours, and 6-8 weeks post-STEMI) in 38 patients and 38 controls (95 995 diseased and 33 878 control peripheral blood mononuclear cells). RESULTS: Compared with controls, classical monocytes were increased and CD56dim natural killer cells were decreased in patients with STEMI at admission and persisted until 24 hours post-STEMI. The largest gene expression changes were observed in monocytes, associating with changes in toll-like receptor, interferon, and interleukin signaling activity. Finally, a targeted cardiovascular biomarker panel revealed expression changes in 33/92 plasma proteins post-STEMI. Interestingly, interleukin-6R, MMP9 (matrix metalloproteinase-9), and LDLR (low-density lipoprotein receptor) were affected by coronary artery disease-associated genetic risk variation, disease status, and time post-STEMI, indicating the importance of considering these aspects when defining potential future therapies. CONCLUSIONS: Our analyses revealed the immunologic pathways disturbed by STEMI, specifying affected cell types and disease stages. Additionally, we provide insights into patients expected to benefit most from anti-inflammatory treatments by identifying the genetic variants and disease stage at which these variants affect the outcome of these (drug-targeted) pathways. These findings advance our knowledge of the immune response post-STEMI and provide guidance for future therapeutic studies.

Multiomic analyses uncover immunological signatures in acute and chronic coronary syndromes.

Acute and chronic coronary syndromes (ACS and CCS) are leading causes of mortality. Inflammation is considered a key pathogenic driver of these diseases, but the underlying immune states and their clinical implications remain poorly understood. Multiomic factor analysis (MOFA) allows unsupervised data exploration across multiple data types, identifying major axes of variation and associating these with underlying molecular processes. We hypothesized that applying MOFA to multiomic data obtained from blood might uncover hidden sources of variance and provide pathophysiological insights linked to clinical needs. Here we compile a longitudinal multiomic dataset of the systemic immune landscape in both ACS and CCS (n = 62 patients in total, n = 15 women and n = 47 men) and validate this in an external cohort (n = 55 patients in total, n = 11 women and n = 44 men). MOFA reveals multicellular immune signatures characterized by distinct monocyte, natural killer and T cell substates and immune-communication pathways that explain a large proportion of inter-patient variance. We also identify specific factors that reflect disease state or associate with treatment outcome in ACS as measured using left ventricular ejection fraction. Hence, this study provides proof-of-concept evidence for the ability of MOFA to uncover multicellular immune programs in cardiovascular disease, opening new directions for mechanistic, biomarker and therapeutic studies.