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Cytokine signaling converging on IL11 in ILD fibroblasts provokes aberrant epithelial differentiation signatures.

Front. Immunol. 14:1128239 (2023)
Verlagsversion DOI PMC
Open Access Gold
Creative Commons Lizenzvertrag
INTRODUCTION: Interstitial lung disease (ILD) is a heterogenous group of lung disorders where destruction and incomplete regeneration of the lung parenchyma often results in persistent architectural distortion of the pulmonary scaffold. Continuous mesenchyme-centered, disease-relevant signaling likely initiates and perpetuates the fibrotic remodeling process, specifically targeting the epithelial cell compartment, thereby destroying the gas exchange area. METHODS: With the aim of identifying functional mediators of the lung mesenchymal-epithelial crosstalk with potential as new targets for therapeutic strategies, we developed a 3D organoid co-culture model based on human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived alveolar epithelial type 2 cells that form alveolar organoids in presence of lung fibroblasts from fibrotic-ILD patients, in our study referring to cases of pulmonary fibrosis, as well as control cell line (IMR-90). RESULTS: While organoid formation capacity and size was comparable in the presence of fibrotic-ILD or control lung fibroblasts, metabolic activity was significantly increased in fibrotic-ILD co-cultures. Alveolar organoids cultured with fibrotic-ILD fibroblasts further demonstrated reduced stem cell function as reflected by reduced Surfactant Protein C gene expression together with an aberrant basaloid-prone differentiation program indicated by elevated Cadherin 2, Bone Morphogenic Protein 4 and Vimentin transcription. To screen for key mediators of the misguided mesenchymal-to-epithelial crosstalk with a focus on disease-relevant inflammatory processes, we used mass spectrometry and characterized the secretome of end stage fibrotic-ILD lung fibroblasts in comparison to non-chronic lung disease (CLD) patient fibroblasts. Out of the over 2000 proteins detected by this experimental approach, 47 proteins were differentially abundant comparing fibrotic-ILD and non-CLD fibroblast secretome. The fibrotic-ILD secretome profile was dominated by chemokines, including CXCL1, CXCL3, and CXCL8, interfering with growth factor signaling orchestrated by Interleukin 11 (IL11), steering fibrogenic cell-cell communication, and proteins regulating extracellular matrix remodeling including epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. When in turn treating alveolar organoids with IL11, we recapitulated the co-culture results obtained with primary fibrotic-ILD fibroblasts including changes in metabolic activity. CONCLUSION: We identified mediators likely contributing to the disease-perpetuating mesenchymal-to-epithelial crosstalk in ILD. In our alveolar organoid co-cultures, we were able to highlight the importance of fibroblast-initiated aberrant epithelial differentiation and confirmed IL11 as a key player in fibrotic-ILD pathogenesis by unbiased fibroblast secretome analysis.
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Publikationstyp Artikel: Journalartikel
Dokumenttyp Wissenschaftlicher Artikel
Korrespondenzautor
Schlagwörter Il11 ; Co-culture Model ; Cytokine ; Disease Modeling ; Human Pluripotent Stem Cells ; Interstitial Lung Disease ; Organoids ; Secretome; Lung-disease; Cells; Pathogenesis; Proteomics
ISSN (print) / ISBN 1664-3224
e-ISSN 1664-3224
Quellenangaben Band: 14, Heft: , Seiten: , Artikelnummer: 1128239 Supplement: ,
Verlag Frontiers
Verlagsort Avenue Du Tribunal Federal 34, Lausanne, Ch-1015, Switzerland
Nichtpatentliteratur Publikationen
Begutachtungsstatus Peer reviewed
Förderungen Helmholtz Munich
German Center of Lung Research (DZL)
DFG, LMU Munich