Single cell RNA sequencing of human FAPs reveals different functional stages in Duchenne muscular dystrophy

Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease produced by mutations in the dystrophin gene characterized by early onset muscle weakness leading to severe and irreversible disability. Muscle degeneration involves a complex interplay between multiple cell lineages spatially located with...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Fernandez-Simon, Esther, Pinol-Jurado, Patricia, Gokul-Nath, Rasya, Unsworth, Adrienne, Alonso-Perez, Jorge, Schiava, Marianela, Nascimento, Andres, Tasca, Giorgio, Queen, Rachel, Cox, Dan, Suarez-Calvet, Xavier, Diaz-Manera, Jordi
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2024
País:España
Institución:Fundació Sant Joan de Déu
Repositorio:r-FSJD. Repositorio Institucional de Producción Científica de la Fundació Sant Joan de Déu
OAI Identifier:oai:fsjd.fundanetsuite.com:p26646
Acceso en línea:https://fsjd.fundanetsuite.com/Publicaciones/ProdCientif/PublicacionFrw.aspx?id=26646
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:muscle dystrophies
fibro-adipogenic progenitor cells
fibrosis
adipogenesis
single cell RNA sequencing
Descripción
Sumario:Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy is a genetic disease produced by mutations in the dystrophin gene characterized by early onset muscle weakness leading to severe and irreversible disability. Muscle degeneration involves a complex interplay between multiple cell lineages spatially located within areas of damage, termed the degenerative niche, including inflammatory cells, satellite cells (SCs) and fibro-adipogenic precursor cells (FAPs). FAPs are mesenchymal stem cell which have a pivotal role in muscle homeostasis as they can either promote muscle regeneration or contribute to muscle degeneration by expanding fibrotic and fatty tissue. Although it has been described that FAPs could have a different behavior in DMD patients than in healthy controls, the molecular pathways regulating their function as well as their gene expression profile are unknown.Methods: We used single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) with 10X Genomics and Illumina technology to elucidate the differences in the transcriptional profile of isolated FAPs from healthy and DMD patients.Results: Gene signatures in FAPs from both groups revealed transcriptional differences. Seurat analysis categorized cell clusters as proliferative FAPs, regulatory FAPs, inflammatory FAPs, and myofibroblasts. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between healthy and DMD FAPs included upregulated genes CHI3L1, EFEMP1, MFAP5, and TGFBR2 in DMD. Functional analysis highlighted distinctions in system development, wound healing, and cytoskeletal organization in control FAPs, while extracellular organization, degradation, and collagen degradation were upregulated in DMD FAPs. Validation of DEGs in additional samples (n = 9) using qPCR reinforced the specific impact of pathological settings on FAP heterogeneity, reflecting their distinct contribution to fibro or fatty degeneration in vivo.Conclusion: Using the single-cell RNA seq from human samples provide new opportunities to study cellular coordination to further understand the regulation of muscle homeostasis and degeneration that occurs in muscular dystrophies.