Spatially resolved multiomics of human cardiac niches.

The function of a cell is defined by its intrinsic characteristics and its niche: the tissue microenvironment in which it dwells. Here we combine single-cell and spatial transcriptomics data to discover cellular niches within eight regions of the human heart. We map cells to microanatomical locations and integrate knowledge-based and unsupervised structural annotations. We also profile the cells of the human cardiac conduction system1. The results revealed their distinctive repertoire of ion channels, G-protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs) and regulatory networks, and implicated FOXP2 in the pacemaker phenotype. We show that the sinoatrial node is compartmentalized, with a core of pacemaker cells, fibroblasts and glial cells supporting glutamatergic signalling. Using a custom CellPhoneDB.org module, we identify trans-synaptic pacemaker cell interactions with glia. We introduce a druggable target prediction tool, drug2cell, which leverages single-cell profiles and drug-target interactions to provide mechanistic insights into the chronotropic effects of drugs, including GLP-1 analogues. In the epicardium, we show enrichment of both IgG+ and IgA+ plasma cells forming immune niches that may contribute to infection defence. Overall, we provide new clarity to cardiac electro-anatomy and immunology, and our suite of computational approaches can be applied to other tissues and organs.

FXR inhibition may protect from SARS-CoV-2 infection by reducing ACE2.

Preventing SARS-CoV-2 infection by modulating viral host receptors, such as angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2)1, could represent a new chemoprophylactic approach for COVID-19 that complements vaccination2,3. However, the mechanisms that control the expression of ACE2 remain unclear. Here we show that the farnesoid X receptor (FXR) is a direct regulator of ACE2 transcription in several tissues affected by COVID-19, including the gastrointestinal and respiratory systems. We then use the over-the-counter compound z-guggulsterone and the off-patent drug ursodeoxycholic acid (UDCA) to reduce FXR signalling and downregulate ACE2 in human lung, cholangiocyte and intestinal organoids and in the corresponding tissues in mice and hamsters. We show that the UDCA-mediated downregulation of ACE2 reduces susceptibility to SARS-CoV-2 infection in vitro, in vivo and in human lungs and livers perfused ex situ. Furthermore, we reveal that UDCA reduces the expression of ACE2 in the nasal epithelium in humans. Finally, we identify a correlation between UDCA treatment and positive clinical outcomes after SARS-CoV-2 infection using retrospective registry data, and confirm these findings in an independent validation cohort of recipients of liver transplants. In conclusion, we show that FXR has a role in controlling ACE2 expression and provide evidence that modulation of this pathway could be beneficial for reducing SARS-CoV-2 infection, paving the way for future clinical trials.

Regional Differences in Human Biliary Tissues and Corresponding In Vitro-Derived Organoids.

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Organoids provide a powerful system to study epithelia in vitro. Recently, this approach was applied successfully to the biliary tree, a series of ductular tissues responsible for the drainage of bile and pancreatic secretions. More precisely, organoids have been derived from ductal tissue located outside (extrahepatic bile ducts; EHBDs) or inside the liver (intrahepatic bile ducts; IHBDs). These organoids share many characteristics, including expression of cholangiocyte markers such as keratin (KRT) 19. However, the relationship between these organoids and their tissues of origin, and to each other, is largely unknown. APPROACH AND RESULTS: Organoids were derived from human gallbladder, common bile duct, pancreatic duct, and IHBDs using culture conditions promoting WNT signaling. The resulting IHBD and EHBD organoids expressed stem/progenitor markers leucine-rich repeat-containing G-protein-coupled receptor 5/prominin 1 and ductal markers KRT19/KRT7. However, RNA sequencing revealed that organoids conserve only a limited number of regional-specific markers corresponding to their location of origin. Of particular interest, down-regulation of biliary markers and up-regulation of cell-cycle genes were observed in organoids. IHBD and EHBD organoids diverged in their response to WNT signaling, and only IHBDs were able to express a low level of hepatocyte markers under differentiation conditions. CONCLUSIONS: Taken together, our results demonstrate that differences exist not only between extrahepatic biliary organoids and their tissue of origin, but also between IHBD and EHBD organoids. This information may help to understand the tissue specificity of cholangiopathies and also to identify targets for therapeutic development.

Snapin promotes HIV-1 transmission from dendritic cells by dampening TLR8 signaling.

HIV-1 traffics through dendritic cells (DCs) en route to establishing a productive infection in T lymphocytes but fails to induce an innate immune response. Within DC endosomes, HIV-1 somehow evades detection by the pattern-recognition receptor (PRR) Toll-like receptor 8 (TLR8). Using a phosphoproteomic approach, we identified a robust and diverse signaling cascade triggered by HIV-1 upon entry into human DCs. A secondary siRNA screen of the identified signaling factors revealed several new mediators of HIV-1 trans-infection of CD4+ T cells in DCs, including the dynein motor protein Snapin. Inhibition of Snapin enhanced localization of HIV-1 with TLR8+ early endosomes, triggered a pro-inflammatory response, and inhibited trans-infection of CD4+ T cells. Snapin inhibited TLR8 signaling in the absence of HIV-1 and is a general regulator of endosomal maturation. Thus, we identify a new mechanism of innate immune sensing by TLR8 in DCs, which is exploited by HIV-1 to promote transmission.

Cell proliferation within small intestinal crypts is the principal driving force for cell migration on villi.

The functional integrity of the intestinal epithelial barrier relies on tight coordination of cell proliferation and migration, with failure to regulate these processes resulting in disease. It is not known whether cell proliferation is sufficient to drive epithelial cell migration during homoeostatic turnover of the epithelium. Nor is it known precisely how villus cell migration is affected when proliferation is perturbed. Some reports suggest that proliferation and migration may not be related while other studies support a direct relationship. We used established cell-tracking methods based on thymine analog cell labeling and developed tailored mathematical models to quantify cell proliferation and migration under normal conditions and when proliferation is reduced and when it is temporarily halted. We found that epithelial cell migration velocities along the villi are coupled to cell proliferation rates within the crypts in all conditions. Furthermore, halting and resuming proliferation results in the synchronized response of cell migration on the villi. We conclude that cell proliferation within the crypt is the primary force that drives cell migration along the villus. This methodology can be applied to interrogate intestinal epithelial dynamics and characterize situations in which processes involved in cell turnover become uncoupled, including pharmacological treatments and disease models.-Parker, A., Maclaren, O. J., Fletcher, A. G., Muraro, D., Kreuzaler, P. A., Byrne, H. M., Maini, P. K., Watson, A. J. M., Pin, C. Cell proliferation within small intestinal crypts is the principal driving force for cell migration on villi.

Integration of hormonal signaling networks and mobile microRNAs is required for vascular patterning in Arabidopsis roots.

As multicellular organisms grow, positional information is continually needed to regulate the pattern in which cells are arranged. In the Arabidopsis root, most cell types are organized in a radially symmetric pattern; however, a symmetry-breaking event generates bisymmetric auxin and cytokinin signaling domains in the stele. Bidirectional cross-talk between the stele and the surrounding tissues involving a mobile transcription factor, SHORT ROOT (SHR), and mobile microRNA species also determines vascular pattern, but it is currently unclear how these signals integrate. We use a multicellular model to determine a minimal set of components necessary for maintaining a stable vascular pattern. Simulations perturbing the signaling network show that, in addition to the mutually inhibitory interaction between auxin and cytokinin, signaling through SHR, microRNA165/6, and PHABULOSA is required to maintain a stable bisymmetric pattern. We have verified this prediction by observing loss of bisymmetry in shr mutants. The model reveals the importance of several features of the network, namely the mutual degradation of microRNA165/6 and PHABULOSA and the existence of an additional negative regulator of cytokinin signaling. These components form a plausible mechanism capable of patterning vascular tissues in the absence of positional inputs provided by the transport of hormones from the shoot.

An integrative analysis of gene expression and molecular interaction data to identify dys-regulated sub-networks in inflammatory bowel disease.

BACKGROUND: Inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) consists of two main disease-subtypes, Crohn's disease (CD) and ulcerative colitis (UC); these subtypes share overlapping genetic and clinical features. Genome-wide microarray data enable unbiased documentation of alterations in gene expression that may be disease-specific. As genetic diseases are believed to be caused by genetic alterations affecting the function of signalling pathways, module-centric optimisation algorithms, whose aim is to identify sub-networks that are dys-regulated in disease, are emerging as promising approaches. RESULTS: In order to account for the topological structure of molecular interaction networks, we developed an optimisation algorithm that integrates databases of known molecular interactions with gene expression data; such integration enables identification of differentially regulated network modules. We verified the performance of our algorithm by testing it on simulated networks; we then applied the same method to study experimental data derived from microarray analysis of CD and UC biopsies and human interactome databases. This analysis allowed the extraction of dys-regulated subnetworks under different experimental conditions (inflamed and uninflamed tissues in CD and UC). Optimisation was performed to highlight differentially expressed network modules that may be common or specific to the disease subtype. CONCLUSIONS: We show that the selected subnetworks include genes and pathways of known relevance for IBD; in particular, the solutions found highlight cross-talk among enriched pathways, mainly the JAK/STAT signalling pathway and the EGF receptor signalling pathway. In addition, integration of gene expression with molecular interaction data highlights nodes that, although not being differentially expressed, interact with differentially expressed nodes and are part of pathways that are relevant to IBD. The method proposed here may help identifying dys-regulated sub-networks that are common in different diseases and sub-networks whose dys-regulation is specific to a particular disease.

The role of auxin and cytokinin signalling in specifying the root architecture of Arabidopsis thaliana.

Auxin and cytokinin are key hormonal signals that control the cellular architecture of the primary root and the initiation of new lateral root organs in the plant Arabidopsis thaliana. Both developmental processes are regulated by cross-talk between these hormones and their signalling pathways. In this paper, sub-cellular and multi-cellular mathematical models are developed to investigate how interactions between auxin and cytokinin influence the size and location of regions of division and differentiation within the primary root, and describe how their cross-regulation may cause periodic branching of lateral roots. We show how their joint activity may influence tissue-specific oscillations in gene expression, as shown in Moreno-Risueno et al. (2010) and commented upon in Traas and Vernoux (2010), and we propose mechanisms that may generate synchronisation of such periodic behaviours inside a cell and with its neighbours. Using a multi-cellular model, we also analyse the roles of cytokinin and auxin in specifying the three main regions of the primary root (elongation, transition and division zones), our simulation results being in good agreement with independent experimental observations. We then use our model to generate testable predictions concerning the effect of varying the concentrations of the auxin efflux transporters on the sizes of the different root regions. In particular, we predict that over-expression of the transporters will generate a longer root with a longer elongation zone and a smaller division zone than that of a wild type root. This root will contain fewer cells than its wild type counterpart. We conclude that our model can provide a useful tool for investigating the response of cell division and elongation to perturbations in hormonal signalling.

Single-cell atlas of human liver development reveals pathways directing hepatic cell fates.

The liver has been studied extensively due to the broad number of diseases affecting its vital functions. However, therapeutic advances have been hampered by the lack of knowledge concerning human hepatic development. Here, we addressed this limitation by describing the developmental trajectories of different cell types that make up the human liver at single-cell resolution. These transcriptomic analyses revealed that sequential cell-to-cell interactions direct functional maturation of hepatocytes, with non-parenchymal cells playing essential roles during organogenesis. We utilized this information to derive bipotential hepatoblast organoids and then exploited this model system to validate the importance of signalling pathways in hepatocyte and cholangiocyte specification. Further insights into hepatic maturation also enabled the identification of stage-specific transcription factors to improve the functionality of hepatocyte-like cells generated from human pluripotent stem cells. Thus, our study establishes a platform to investigate the basic mechanisms directing human liver development and to produce cell types for clinical applications.

The influence of cytokinin-auxin cross-regulation on cell-fate determination in Arabidopsis thaliana root development.

Root growth and development in Arabidopsis thaliana are sustained by a specialised zone termed the meristem, which contains a population of dividing and differentiating cells that are functionally analogous to a stem cell niche in animals. The hormones auxin and cytokinin control meristem size antagonistically. Local accumulation of auxin promotes cell division and the initiation of a lateral root primordium. By contrast, high cytokinin concentrations disrupt the regular pattern of divisions that characterises lateral root development, and promote differentiation. The way in which the hormones interact is controlled by a genetic regulatory network. In this paper, we propose a deterministic mathematical model to describe this network and present model simulations that reproduce the experimentally observed effects of cytokinin on the expression of auxin regulated genes. We show how auxin response genes and auxin efflux transporters may be affected by the presence of cytokinin. We also analyse and compare the responses of the hormones auxin and cytokinin to changes in their supply with the responses obtained by genetic mutations of SHY2, which encodes a protein that plays a key role in balancing cytokinin and auxin regulation of meristem size. We show that although shy2 mutations can qualitatively reproduce the effect of varying auxin and cytokinin supply on their response genes, some elements of the network respond differently to changes in hormonal supply and to genetic mutations, implying a different, general response of the network. We conclude that an analysis based on the ratio between these two hormones may be misleading and that a mathematical model can serve as a useful tool for stimulate further experimental work by predicting the response of the network to changes in hormone levels and to other genetic mutations.

Modeling HNF1B-associated monogenic diabetes using human iPSCs reveals an early stage impairment of the pancreatic developmental program.

Heterozygous mutations in HNF1B in humans result in a multisystem disorder, including pancreatic hypoplasia and diabetes mellitus. Here we used a well-controlled human induced pluripotent stem cell pancreatic differentiation model to elucidate the molecular mechanisms underlying HNF1B-associated diabetes. Our results show that lack of HNF1B blocks specification of pancreatic fate from the foregut progenitor (FP) stage, but HNF1B haploinsufficiency allows differentiation of multipotent pancreatic progenitor cells (MPCs) and insulin-secreting ß-like cells. We show that HNF1B haploinsufficiency impairs cell proliferation in FPs and MPCs. This could be attributed to impaired induction of key pancreatic developmental genes, including SOX11, ROBO2, and additional TEAD1 target genes whose function is associated with MPC self-renewal. In this work we uncover an exhaustive list of potential HNF1B gene targets during human pancreas organogenesis whose downregulation might underlie HNF1B-associated diabetes onset in humans, thus providing an important resource to understand the pathogenesis of this disease.

TGFß signalling is required to maintain pluripotency of human naïve pluripotent stem cells.

The signalling pathways that maintain primed human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) have been well characterised, revealing a critical role for TGFß/Activin/Nodal signalling. In contrast, the signalling requirements of naive human pluripotency have not been fully established. Here, we demonstrate that TGFß signalling is required to maintain naive hPSCs. The downstream effector proteins - SMAD2/3 - bind common sites in naive and primed hPSCs, including shared pluripotency genes. In naive hPSCs, SMAD2/3 additionally bind to active regulatory regions near to naive pluripotency genes. Inhibiting TGFß signalling in naive hPSCs causes the downregulation of SMAD2/3-target genes and pluripotency exit. Single-cell analyses reveal that naive and primed hPSCs follow different transcriptional trajectories after inhibition of TGFß signalling. Primed hPSCs differentiate into neuroectoderm cells, whereas naive hPSCs transition into trophectoderm. These results establish that there is a continuum for TGFß pathway function in human pluripotency spanning a developmental window from naive to primed states.

Cholangiocyte organoids can repair bile ducts after transplantation in the human liver.

Organoid technology holds great promise for regenerative medicine but has not yet been applied to humans. We address this challenge using cholangiocyte organoids in the context of cholangiopathies, which represent a key reason for liver transplantation. Using single-cell RNA sequencing, we show that primary human cholangiocytes display transcriptional diversity that is lost in organoid culture. However, cholangiocyte organoids remain plastic and resume their in vivo signatures when transplanted back in the biliary tree. We then utilize a model of cell engraftment in human livers undergoing ex vivo normothermic perfusion to demonstrate that this property allows extrahepatic organoids to repair human intrahepatic ducts after transplantation. Our results provide proof of principle that cholangiocyte organoids can be used to repair human biliary epithelium.

mRNA diffusion explains protein gradients in Drosophila early development.

We propose a new model describing the production and the establishment of the stable gradient of the Bicoid protein along the antero-posterior axis of the embryo of Drosophila. In this model, we consider that bicoid mRNA diffuses along the antero-posterior axis of the embryo and the protein is produced in the ribosomes localized near the syncytial nuclei. Bicoid protein stays localized near the syncytial nuclei as observed in experiments. We calibrate the parameters of the mathematical model with experimental data taken during the cleavage stages 11-14 of the developing embryo of Drosophila. We obtain good agreement between the experimental and the model gradients, with relative errors in the range 5-8%. The inferred diffusion coefficient of bicoid mRNA is in the range 4.6 x 10(-12)-1.5 x 10(-11)m(2)s(-1), in agreement with the theoretical predictions and experimental measurements for the diffusion of macromolecules in the cytoplasm. We show that the model based on the mRNA diffusion hypothesis is consistent with the known observational data, supporting the recent experimental findings of the gradient of bicoid mRNA in Drosophila [Spirov et al. (2009). Development 136, 605-614].

Naive Pluripotent Stem Cells Exhibit Phenotypic Variability that Is Driven by Genetic Variation.

Variability among pluripotent stem cell (PSC) lines is a prevailing issue that hampers not only experimental reproducibility but also large-scale applications and personalized cell-based therapy. This variability could result from epigenetic and genetic factors that influence stem cell behavior. Naive culture conditions minimize epigenetic fluctuation, potentially overcoming differences in PSC line differentiation potential. Here we derived PSCs from distinct mouse strains under naive conditions and show that lines from distinct genetic backgrounds have divergent differentiation capacity, confirming a major role for genetics in PSC phenotypic variability. This is explained in part through inconsistent activity of extra-cellular signaling, including the Wnt pathway, which is modulated by specific genetic variants. Overall, this study shows that genetic background plays a dominant role in driving phenotypic variability of PSCs.

NOD2 and TLR2 Signal via TBK1 and PI31 to Direct Cross-Presentation and CD8 T Cell Responses.

NOD2 and TLR2 recognize components of bacterial cell wall peptidoglycan and direct defense against enteric pathogens. CD8+ T cells are important for immunity to such pathogens but how NOD2 and TLR2 induce antigen specific CD8+ T cell responses is unknown. Here, we define how these pattern recognition receptors (PRRs) signal in primary dendritic cells (DCs) to influence MHC class I antigen presentation. We show NOD2 and TLR2 phosphorylate PI31 via TBK1 following activation in DCs. PI31 interacts with TBK1 and Sec16A at endoplasmic reticulum exit sites (ERES), which positively regulates MHC class I peptide loading and immunoproteasome stability. Following NOD2 and TLR2 stimulation, depletion of PI31 or inhibition of TBK1 activity in vivo impairs DC cross-presentation and CD8+ T cell activation. DCs from Crohn's patients expressing NOD2 polymorphisms show dysregulated cross-presentation and CD8+ T cell responses. Our findings reveal unidentified mechanisms that underlie CD8+ T cell responses to bacteria in health and in Crohn's.

Elevated apoptosis impairs epithelial cell turnover and shortens villi in TNF-driven intestinal inflammation.

The intestinal epithelial monolayer, at the boundary between microbes and the host immune system, plays an important role in the development of inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), particularly as a target and producer of pro-inflammatory TNF. Chronic overexpression of TNF leads to IBD-like pathology over time, but the mechanisms driving early pathogenesis events are not clear. We studied the epithelial response to inflammation by combining mathematical models with in vivo experimental models resembling acute and chronic TNF-mediated injury. We found significant villus atrophy with increased epithelial cell death along the crypt-villus axis, most dramatically at the villus tips, in both acute and chronic inflammation. In the acute model, we observed overexpression of TNF receptor I in the villus tip rapidly after TNF injection and concurrent with elevated levels of intracellular TNF and rapid shedding at the tip. In the chronic model, sustained villus atrophy was accompanied by a reduction in absolute epithelial cell turnover. Mathematical modelling demonstrated that increased cell apoptosis on the villus body explains the reduction in epithelial cell turnover along the crypt-villus axis observed in chronic inflammation. Cell destruction in the villus was not accompanied by changes in proliferative cell number or division rate within the crypt. Epithelial morphology and immunological changes in the chronic setting suggest a repair response to cell damage although the villus length is not recovered. A better understanding of how this state is further destabilised and results in clinical pathology resembling IBD will help identify suitable pathways for therapeutic intervention.

Method to Synchronize Cell Cycle of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells without Affecting Their Fundamental Characteristics.

Cell cycle progression and cell fate decisions are closely linked in human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs). However, the study of these interplays at the molecular level remains challenging due to the lack of efficient methods allowing cell cycle synchronization of large quantities of cells. Here, we screened inhibitors of cell cycle progression and identified nocodazole as the most efficient small molecule to synchronize hPSCs in the G2/M phase. Following nocodazole treatment, hPSCs remain pluripotent, retain a normal karyotype and can successfully differentiate into the three germ layers and functional cell types. Moreover, genome-wide transcriptomic analyses on single cells synchronized for their cell cycle and differentiated toward the endoderm lineage validated our findings and showed that nocodazole treatment has no effect on gene expression during the differentiation process. Thus, our synchronization method provides a robust approach to study cell cycle mechanisms in hPSCs.

Chronic TNFα-driven injury delays cell migration to villi in the intestinal epithelium.

The intestinal epithelium is a single layer of cells which provides the first line of defence of the intestinal mucosa to bacterial infection. Cohesion of this physical barrier is supported by renewal of epithelial stem cells, residing in invaginations called crypts, and by crypt cell migration onto protrusions called villi; dysregulation of such mechanisms may render the gut susceptible to chronic inflammation. The impact that excessive or misplaced epithelial cell death may have on villus cell migration is currently unknown. We integrated cell-tracking methods with computational models to determine how epithelial homeostasis is affected by acute and chronic TNFα-driven epithelial cell death. Parameter inference reveals that acute inflammatory cell death has a transient effect on epithelial cell dynamics, whereas cell death caused by chronic elevated TNFα causes a delay in the accumulation of labelled cells onto the villus compared to the control. Such a delay may be reproduced by using a cell-based model to simulate the dynamics of each cell in a crypt-villus geometry, showing that a prolonged increase in cell death slows the migration of cells from the crypt to the villus. This investigation highlights which injuries (acute or chronic) may be regenerated and which cause disruption of healthy epithelial homeostasis.

Prioritisation and network analysis of Crohn's disease susceptibility genes.

Recent Genome-Wide Association Studies (GWAS) have revealed numerous Crohn's disease susceptibility genes and a key challenge now is in understanding how risk polymorphisms in associated genes might contribute to development of this disease. For a gene to contribute to disease phenotype, its risk variant will likely adversely communicate with a variety of other gene products to result in dysregulation of common signaling pathways. A vital challenge is to elucidate pathways of potentially greatest influence on pathological behaviour, in a manner recognizing how multiple relevant genes may yield integrative effect. In this work we apply mathematical analysis of networks involving the list of recently described Crohn's susceptibility genes, to prioritise pathways in relation to their potential development of this disease. Prioritisation was performed by applying a text mining and a diffusion based method (GRAIL, GPEC). Prospective biological significance of the resulting prioritised list of proteins is highlighted by changes in their gene expression levels in Crohn's patients intestinal tissue in comparison with healthy donors.