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Integrated target discovery screens identify IL11 as novel therapeutic target for fibrosis [168 human cardiac fibroblasts]

ABSTRACT: Cardiac fibrosis is the final common pathology in heart disease. Here we establish an integrated imaging-genomic discovery platform using primary human heart fibroblasts to identify new drug targets for cardiac fibrosis. Genome wide analyses identify IL11, a secreted cytokine amenable to therapeutic inhibition, as the leading pro-fibrotic candidate. We demonstrate an autocrine loop of IL11 activity that is critical for fibrosis and acts as a nexus of signalling convergence for multiple pro-fibrotic stimuli. IL11 signals in cis and trans via the ERK cascade to activate a programme of fibrosis primarily at the level of protein translation. Injection of IL11 to mice causes fibrosis of the heart, kidney, lung, skin and liver whereas genetic ablation of the IL11 receptor prevented fibrosis across tissues. These data define a new non-canonical fibrogenic pathway and prioritise IL11 as a novel therapeutic target for fibrosis of the heart and other organs

ORGANISM(S): Homo sapiens

PROVIDER: GSE97358 | GEO | 2017/11/22

SECONDARY ACCESSION(S): PRJNA381490

REPOSITORIES: GEO

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Project description:Fibrotic interstitial lung disease (ILD) are lung disorders characterized by the accumulation of extracellular matrix, ultimately resulting in the destruction of the pulmonary scaffold. Continuous pro-fibrotic signaling perpetuates the remodeling process, specifically targeting the epithelial cell compartment, thereby destroying the gas exchange area. Studies that address this detrimental crosstalk between lung epithelial cells and fibroblasts are key to understanding ILD. With the aim of identifying functionally relevant targets that drive mesenchymal-epithelial crosstalk and their potential as new avenues to therapeutic strategies, we developed an organoid co-culture system based on human induced pluripotent stem cell-derived alveolar epithelial type 2 cells and lung fibroblasts from ILD patients as well as IMR-90 controls. While organoid formation capacity and organoid size was comparable in the presence of ILD or control lung fibroblasts, metabolic activity was significantly increased in ILD co-cultures. Alveolar organoids cultured with ILD fibroblasts further demonstrated reduced stem cell function supported 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. In order to identify key mediators of the misguided mesenchymal-to-epithelial crosstalk with a focus on disease-relevant inflammatory processes, we used secretome mass spectrometry to identify key signals secreted by end stage ILD lung fibroblasts. Over 2000 proteins were detected in a single-shot experiment with 47 differentially upregulated proteins when comparing ILD and non-chronic lung disease control fibroblasts. The secretome profile was dominated by chemokines of the C-X-C motif family, including CXCL1, -3, and -8, all interfering with (epithelial) 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 3D monocultures of iAT2s with IL11 we recapitulated the co-culture results obtained with primary ILD fibroblasts including changes in metabolic activity as well as organoid formation capacity and size. In summary, our analysis identified mesenchyme-derived mediators likely contributing to the disease-perpetuating mesenchymal-to-epithelial crosstalk in ILD by using sophisticated alveolar organoid co-cultures indicating the importance of cytokine-driven aberrant epithelial differentiation and confirmed IL11 as a key player in ILD using an unbiased approach.

Project description:Inflammation and tissue fibrosis co-exist and are causally linked to organ dysfunction. However, the molecular mechanisms driving immune-fibroblast crosstalk in human cardiac disease remains unexplored, and there are currently no approved treatments that directly target cardiac fibrosis. Here, we performed multi-omic single-cell gene expression, epitope mapping, and chromatin accessibility profiling in 45 donors, acutely infarcted, and chronically failing human hearts. We identified a disease-associated fibroblast trajectory marked by cell surface expression of fibroblast activator protein (FAP), which diverged into distinct myofibroblasts and pro-fibrotic fibroblast populations, the latter resembling matrifibrocytes. We lineage traced FAP fibroblasts in vivo and showed that they contribute to the POSTN lineage but not the myofibroblast lineage. We assessed the applicability of experimental systems to model tissue fibrosis and demonstrated that 3 different in vivo mouse models of cardiac injury were superior compared to cultured human heart and dermal fibroblasts in recapitulating the human disease phenotype. Ligand-receptor analysis and spatial transcriptomics predicted that interactions between C-C chemokine receptor type 2 (CCR2) macrophages and fibroblasts mediated by interleukin 1 beta (IL-1β) signaling drove the emergence of pro-fibrotic fibroblasts within spatially defined niches. In vivo, we deleted the IL-1 receptor on fibroblasts, the IL-1β ligand in CCR2 monocytes and macrophages, and inhibited IL-1β signaling using a monoclonal antibody and showed fewer pro-fibrotic fibroblasts, decreased cardiac fibrosis, and improved cardiac function. Herein, we characterize fibroblast lineage diversification in the failing heart and showed a subset of macrophages signal to fibroblasts via IL-1β and rewire their gene regulatory network and differentiation trajectory towards a pro-fibrotic fibroblast phenotype. These findings highlight the broader therapeutic potential of targeting inflammation to treat tissue fibrosis and preserve organ function.

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Integrated target discovery screens identify IL11 as novel therapeutic target for fibrosis [168 human cardiac fibroblasts]

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