Project description:We established a colon assembloid system comprising epithelium and diverse subtypes of stromal cells. To explore how closely assembloids resemble the native tissue, we performed the transcriptional profiling of stromal cells from assembloids and epithelial cells from assembloids, organoids, and colon tissue at the single-cell level.
Project description:Epithelial cells play an important role in the protection of the colon mucosa from the resident microbiota and are involved in the initiation and maintenance of intestinal inflammation. LMD is a technique that allows the extraction of specific cell types, such as colonic epithelial cells, to analyse gene expression. LMD of colon epithelial cells followed by microarray analysis could be of more value than microarray analysis of intact colon for determining which pathways are active in the colon mucosa in the early and late stages of inflammation due to increased sensitivity to changes in specific cell populations. An experiment was performed using microarray analysis of intact colon samples and microdissected colon epithelial cell samples from Il10-/- and C57BL/6J mice at 6 and 12 weeks of age to study the molecular changes that occur in early and late inflammation stages in colon epithelium of a mouse model of colitis. Results showed that intact colon and colon epithelial cell gene expression profiles were similar in terms of pathways between Il10-/- and C57BL/6J mice at 12 weeks of age and between Il10-/- mice at 12 and 6 weeks of age. More immune-related pathways were identified at 6 weeks of age in epithelial cells than intact colon. This suggests that LMD and targeting of specific cell types may be of particular use when studying the early stages of inflammation before the intestinal morphology is detectably altered, by increasing analysis sensitivity to mucosal gene expression changes. 2x2 factorial with two tissue types analysed. Two strains of mouse (Il10 knockout mouse and the background strain C57BL/6J) were sampled at 2 timepoints (6 and 12 weeks of age) and intact proximal colon and colon epithelium harvested from each mouse (6 mice per group except for group colon epithelium C57 mouse 12 weeks where only 5 samples reached quality control standards).
Project description:We generated a novel Six2-Cre+/-PKAcaRfl/wt (CA-PKA) CA-PKA mouse in which expression of constitutive-active PKAcaR was induced in gastric mesenchyme progenitors. CA-PKA mice showed disruption of gastric homeostasis characterized by aberrant mucosal development and epithelial hyperproliferation; ultimately developing multiple features of gastric corpus preneoplasia including decreased parietal cells, mucous cell hyperplasia, spasmolytic peptide expressing metaplasia (SPEM) with intestinal characteristics and dysplastic and invasive cystic glands. Our results show that constitutively active PKAcaR in the stomach mesenchyme nonautonomously disrupts gastric homeostasis characterized by increased epithelial proliferation and aberrant epithelial maldevelopment, ultimately leading to gastric preneoplasia.
Project description:The microenvironment exerts a profound control on tumor initiation in many tissues. In brain tumors, this process is under studied, in particular how stromal signals exert effects on cancer signaling in pre-tumor cells. In the cerebellum, canonical Wnt signalling mediated by Norrin/Frizzled4 (Fzd4) activation in endothelial cells in the meninges exerts a potent inhibitory effect on preneoplasia and tumour progression in mouse models of Sonic hedgehog medulloblastoma (Shh-MB). Single cell transcriptome profiling and deep phenotyping of the meninges during the critical period of preneoplasia development revealed that Norrin/Fzd4 signalling maintains the activation of meningeal macrophages (mMΦs), characterized by Lyve1 and CXCL4 expression. mMΦ depletion during this critical period phenocopies the enhanced preneoplasia and tumourigenesis caused by Ndp loss. CXCL4 mediates the anti-tumourigenesis effect of mMΦs, as it antagonizes CXCL12/CXCR4 signaling in granule neuron progenitors, the MB cell of origin, to reduce cell cycle progression and promote migration away from the pre-tumour niche. Taken together, these findings are the first demonstration that mMΦs are key mediators of chemokine-regulated anti-cancer cross talk between the stroma and pre-tumour cells in the control of MB initiation.
Project description:Intestinal health is sustained by cooperation between diverse cell types, including epithelial cells, immune cells and stromal cells. Colonic stromal cells provide critical structural support but also regulate mucosal immunity, tolerance and inflammatory responses. Although mucosal stromal cells display substantial variability and plasticity, a paucity of unique genetic markers has precluded the identification of distinct stromal populations and functions. We used single-cell RNA-sequencing to uncover heterogeneity and subtype-specific markers of individual colonic stromal cells in health and ulcerative colitis (UC). Marker-free transcriptional clustering revealed four distinct stromal populations in healthy colon, corresponding to myofibroblasts and three previously unknown distinct subsets of fibroblasts. These fibroblast subsets were substantially remodeled in UC compared to healthy colon: inflamed UC colon was depleted for a healthy fibroblast subpopulation associated with epithelial cell homeostasis, and enriched for a novel disease-associated subtype expressing pro-inflammatory genes. Thus, we have discovered new, molecularly distinct colonic stromal cell subtypes that are altered in human disease.
Project description:Intestinal health is sustained by cooperation between diverse cell types, including epithelial cells, immune cells and stromal cells. Colonic stromal cells provide critical structural support but also regulate mucosal immunity, tolerance and inflammatory responses. Although mucosal stromal cells display substantial variability and plasticity, a paucity of unique genetic markers has precluded the identification of distinct stromal populations and functions. We used single-cell RNA-sequencing to uncover heterogeneity and subtype-specific markers of individual colonic stromal cells in health and ulcerative colitis (UC). Marker-free transcriptional clustering revealed four distinct stromal populations in healthy colon, corresponding to myofibroblasts and three previously unknown distinct subsets of fibroblasts. These fibroblast subsets were substantially remodeled in UC compared to healthy colon: inflamed UC colon was depleted for a healthy fibroblast subpopulation associated with epithelial cell homeostasis, and enriched for a novel disease-associated subtype expressing pro-inflammatory genes. Thus, we have discovered new, molecularly distinct colonic stromal cell subtypes that are altered in human disease.
Project description:Intestinal health is sustained by cooperation between diverse cell types, including epithelial cells, immune cells and stromal cells. Colonic stromal cells provide critical structural support but also regulate mucosal immunity, tolerance and inflammatory responses. Although mucosal stromal cells display substantial variability and plasticity, a paucity of unique genetic markers has precluded the identification of distinct stromal populations and functions. We used single-cell RNA-sequencing to uncover heterogeneity and subtype-specific markers of individual colonic stromal cells in health and ulcerative colitis (UC). Marker-free transcriptional clustering revealed four distinct stromal populations in healthy colon, corresponding to myofibroblasts and three previously unknown distinct subsets of fibroblasts. These fibroblast subsets were substantially remodeled in UC compared to healthy colon: inflamed UC colon was depleted for a healthy fibroblast subpopulation associated with epithelial cell homeostasis, and enriched for a novel disease-associated subtype expressing pro-inflammatory genes. Thus, we have discovered new, molecularly distinct colonic stromal cell subtypes that are altered in human disease.