Impact of different tissue dissociation protocols on endothelial cell recovery from developing mouse lungs.

Flow cytometry and fluorescence-activated cell sorting are widely used to study endothelial cells, for which the generation of viable single-cell suspensions is an essential first step. Two enzymatic approaches, collagenase A and dispase, are widely employed for endothelial cell isolation. In this study, the utility of both enzymatic approaches, alone and in combination, for endothelial cell isolation from juvenile and adult mouse lungs was assessed, considering the number, viability, and subtype composition of recovered endothelial cell pools. Collagenase A yielded an 8-12-fold superior recovery of viable endothelial cells from lung tissue from developing mouse pups, compared to dispase, although dispase proved superior in efficiency for epithelial cell recovery. Single-cell RNA-Seq revealed that the collagenase A approach yielded a diverse endothelial cell subtype composition of recovered endothelial cell pools, with broad representation of arterial, capillary, venous, and lymphatic lung endothelial cells; while the dispase approach yielded a recovered endothelial cell pool highly enriched for one subset of general capillary endothelial cells, but poor representation of other endothelial cells subtypes. These data indicate that tissue dissociation markedly influences the recovery of endothelial cells, and the endothelial subtype composition of recovered endothelial cell pools, as assessed by single-cell RNA-Seq.

Long-Term Pulmonary Dysfunction by Hyperoxia Exposure during Severe Viral Lower Respiratory Tract Infection in Mice.

Viral-induced lower respiratory tract infection (LRTI), mainly by respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), causes a major health burden among young children and has been associated with long-term respiratory dysfunction. Children with severe viral LRTI are frequently treated with oxygen therapy, hypothetically posing an additional risk factor for pulmonary sequelae. The main goal of this study was to determine the effect of concurrent hyperoxia exposure during the acute phase of viral LRTI on long-term pulmonary outcome. As an experimental model for severe RSV LRTI in infants, C57Bl/6J mice received an intranasal inoculation with the pneumonia virus of mice J3666 strain at post-natal day 7, and were subsequently exposed to hyperoxia (85% O2) or normoxia (21% O2) from post-natal day 10 to 17 during the acute phase of disease. Long-term outcomes, including lung function and structural development, were assessed 3 weeks post-inoculation at post-natal day 28. Compared to normoxic conditions, hyperoxia exposure in PVM-inoculated mice induced a transient growth arrest without subsequent catchup growth, as well as a long-term increase in airway resistance. This hyperoxia-induced pulmonary dysfunction was not associated with developmental changes to the airway or lung structure. These findings suggest that hyperoxia exposure during viral LRTI at young age may aggravate subsequent long-term pulmonary sequelae. Further research is needed to investigate the specific mechanisms underlying this alteration to pulmonary function.

Elevated FiO2 increases SARS-CoV-2 co-receptor expression in respiratory tract epithelium.

The severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is linked to an increasing number of risk factors, including exogenous (environmental) stimuli such as air pollution, nicotine, and cigarette smoke. These three factors increase the expression of angiotensin I converting enzyme 2 (ACE2), a key receptor involved in the entry of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)-the etiological agent of COVID-19-into respiratory tract epithelial cells. Patients with severe COVID-19 are managed with oxygen support, as are at-risk individuals with chronic lung disease. To date, no study has examined whether an increased fraction of inspired oxygen (FiO2) may affect the expression of SARS-CoV-2 entry receptors and co-receptors, including ACE2 and the transmembrane serine proteases TMPRSS1, TMPRSS2, and TMPRSS11D. To address this, steady-state mRNA levels for genes encoding these SARS-CoV-2 receptors were assessed in the lungs of mouse pups chronically exposed to elevated FiO2, and in the lungs of preterm-born human infants chronically managed with an elevated FiO2. These two scenarios served as models of chronic elevated FiO2 exposure. Additionally, SARS-CoV-2 receptor expression was assessed in primary human nasal, tracheal, esophageal, bronchial, and alveolar epithelial cells, as well as primary mouse alveolar type II cells exposed to elevated oxygen concentrations. While gene expression of ACE2 was unaffected, gene and protein expression of TMPRSS11D was consistently upregulated by exposure to an elevated FiO2. These data highlight the need for further studies that examine the relative contribution of the various viral co-receptors on the infection cycle, and point to oxygen supplementation as a potential risk factor for COVID-19.

Resident alveolar macrophages are master regulators of arrested alveolarization in experimental bronchopulmonary dysplasia.

Trophic functions for macrophages are emerging as key mediators of developmental processes, including bone, vessel, and mammary gland development. Yolk sac-derived macrophages mature in the distal lung shortly after birth. Myeloid-lineage macrophages are recruited to the lung and are activated under pathological conditions. These pathological conditions include bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD), a common complication of preterm birth characterized by stunted lung development, where the formation of alveoli is blocked. No study has addressed causal roles for immune cells in lung alveolarization. We employed antibody-based and transgenic death receptor-based depletion approaches to deplete or prevent lung recruitment of immune cell populations in a hyperoxia-based mouse model of BPD. Neither neutrophils nor exudate macrophages (which might include lung interstitial macrophages) contributed to structural perturbations to the lung that were provoked by hyperoxia; however, cells of the Csf1r-expressing monocyte/macrophage lineage were implicated as causal mediators of stunted lung development. We propose that resident alveolar macrophages differentiate into a population of CD45+ CD11c+ SiglecF+ CD11b+ CD68+ MHCII+ cells, which are activated by hyperoxia, and contribute to disturbances to the structural development of the immature lung. This is the first report that causally implicates immune cells in pathological disturbances to postnatal lung organogenesis. Copyright © 2018 Pathological Society of Great Britain and Ireland. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.