Tritschler, S. ; Thomas, M. ; Böttcher, A. ; Ludwig, B. ; Schmid, J.* ; Schubert, U.* ; Kemter, E.* ; Wolf, E.* ; Lickert, H. ; Theis, F.J.
A transcriptional cross species map of pancreatic islet cells.
Mol. Metab. 66:101595 (2022)
Objective: Pancreatic islets of Langerhans secrete hormones to regulate systemic glucose levels. Emerging evidence suggests that islet cells are functionally heterogeneous to allow a fine-tuned and efficient endocrine response to physiological changes. A precise description of the molecular basis of this heterogeneity, in particular linking animal models to human islets, is an important step towards identifying the factors critical for endocrine cell function in physiological and pathophysiological conditions. Methods: In this study, we used single-cell RNA sequencing to profile more than 50′000 endocrine cells isolated from healthy human, pig and mouse pancreatic islets and characterize transcriptional heterogeneity and evolutionary conservation of those cells across the three species. We systematically delineated endocrine cell types and α- and β-cell heterogeneity through prior knowledge- and data-driven gene sets shared across species, which altogether capture common and differential cellular properties, transcriptional dynamics and putative driving factors of state transitions. Results: We showed that global endocrine expression profiles correlate, and that critical identity and functional markers are shared between species, while only approximately 20% of cell type enriched expression is conserved. We resolved distinct human α- and β-cell states that form continuous transcriptional landscapes. These states differentially activate maturation and hormone secretion programs, which are related to regulatory hormone receptor expression, signaling pathways and different types of cellular stress responses. Finally, we mapped mouse and pig cells to the human reference and observed that the spectrum of human α- and β-cell heterogeneity and aspects of such functional gene expression are better recapitulated in the pig than mouse data. Conclusions: Here, we provide a high-resolution transcriptional map of healthy human islet cells and their murine and porcine counterparts, which is easily queryable via an online interface. This comprehensive resource informs future efforts that focus on pancreatic endocrine function, failure and regeneration, and enables to assess molecular conservation in islet biology across species for translational purposes.
Impact Factor
Scopus SNIP
Web of Science
Times Cited
Scopus
Cited By
Altmetric
Publication type
Article: Journal article
Document type
Scientific Article
Thesis type
Editors
Keywords
Cross Species Conservation ; Pancreatic Islets ; Single-cell Rnaseq ; Translation ; α-cell ; β-cell; Beta-cells; Insulin-resistance; Heterogeneity; Architecture; Plasticity; Proinsulin; Signatures; Predictor; Secretion
Keywords plus
Language
english
Publication Year
2022
Prepublished in Year
0
HGF-reported in Year
2022
ISSN (print) / ISBN
2212-8778
e-ISSN
2212-8778
ISBN
Book Volume Title
Conference Title
Conference Date
Conference Location
Proceedings Title
Quellenangaben
Volume: 66,
Issue: ,
Pages: ,
Article Number: 101595
Supplement: ,
Series
Publisher
Elsevier
Publishing Place
Amsterdam
Day of Oral Examination
0000-00-00
Advisor
Referee
Examiner
Topic
University
University place
Faculty
Publication date
0000-00-00
Application date
0000-00-00
Patent owner
Further owners
Application country
Patent priority
Reviewing status
Peer reviewed
POF-Topic(s)
30205 - Bioengineering and Digital Health
30201 - Metabolic Health
90000 - German Center for Diabetes Research
30204 - Cell Programming and Repair
Research field(s)
Enabling and Novel Technologies
Helmholtz Diabetes Center
Stem Cell and Neuroscience
PSP Element(s)
G-503800-001
G-502300-001
G-502600-007
G-540007-001
G-500800-001
Grants
Wellcome Trust
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative DAF (advised fund of Silicon Valley Community Foundation)
Helmholtz Association's Initiative and Networking Fund through Helmholtz AI
Helmholtz Association
BMBF
Volkswagen Foundation
DFG
Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF)
European Union
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research foundation)
Copyright
Erfassungsdatum
2022-10-08