Project description:SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing recently pandemic, primarily infects the respiratory tract. There is an urgent need to develop platforms using disease relevant human cells to dissect the molecular mechanism regulating SARS-CoV-2 infection and perform drug screen. Here, we derived airway organoids from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC-AO). The hPSC-AOs, particularly ciliated cells, express ACE2 and are permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Using hPSC-AOs, we performed a high content screen and identified GW6471, which blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection. RNA-seq analysis suggested that GW6471 blocking SARS-CoV-2 infection by inhibiting HIF1α, which is further validated by chemotin, another HIF1α inhibitor. Furthermore, metabolic profiling identified that the downregulation of glycolysis upon GW6471 treatment, which is further validated by RNA-seq. Finally, xanthohumol, a prenylated flavonoid suppressing fatty acid and cholesterol biosynthesis, blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection. Together, we applied the high content screen, RNA-seq and metabolic profiling to define the key role of HIF1α-glycolysis axis in SARS-CoV-2 infection, which provides a target pathway for anti-viral drug development.
Project description:SARS-CoV-2, the virus causing recently pandemic, primarily infects the respiratory tract. There is an urgent need to develop platforms using disease relevant human cells to dissect the molecular mechanism regulating SARS-CoV-2 infection and perform drug screen. Here, we derived airway organoids from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC-AO). The hPSC-AOs, particularly ciliated cells, express ACE2 and are permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Using hPSC-AOs, we performed a high content screen and identified GW6471, which blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection. RNA-seq analysis suggested that GW6471 blocking SARS-CoV-2 infection by inhibiting HIF1α, which is further validated by chemotin, another HIF1α inhibitor. Furthermore, metabolic profiling identified that the downregulation of glycolysis upon GW6471 treatment, which is further validated by RNA-seq. Finally, xanthohumol, a prenylated flavonoid suppressing fatty acid and cholesterol biosynthesis, blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection. Together, we applied the high content screen, RNA-seq and metabolic profiling to define the key role of HIF1α-glycolysis axis in SARS-CoV-2 infection, which provides a target pathway for anti-viral drug development.
Project description:SARS-CoV-2 causes the COVID-19 pandemic. It is urgent to develop disease models to dissect mechanisms regulating SARS-CoV-2 infection. Here, we derive airway organoids from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSC-AOs). The hPSC-AOs, particularly ciliated-like cells, are permissive to SARS-CoV-2 infection. Using this platform, we perform a high content screen and identify GW6471, which blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection. GW6471 can also block infection of the B.1.351 SARS-CoV-2 variant. RNA-seq analysis suggests that GW6471 blocks SARS-CoV-2 infection at least in part by inhibiting HIF1α, which is further validated by chemical inhibitor and genetic perturbation targeting HIF1α. Metabolic profiling identifies decreased rates of glycolysis upon GW6471 treatment, consistent with transcriptome profiling. Finally, xanthohumol, 5-(Tetradecyloxy)-2-furoic acid, and ND-646, three compounds that suppress fatty acid biosynthesis, also block SARS-CoV-2 infection. Together, a high content screen coupled with transcriptome and metabolic profiling reveals a key role of the HIF1α-glycolysis axis in mediating SARS-CoV-2 infection of human airway epithelium.
Project description:scRNA-seq of air-liquid interface airway epithelial cultures derived from a human fluorescent reporter hPSC line labeling MUC5B-expressing cells
Project description:Hypoxia inducible factors (HIF)1 and 2 are transcription factors which regulate the homeostatic response to low oxygen conditions. Since data related to the importance of HIF1 and 2 in haematopoietic stem and progenitors is conflicting, we investigated the chromatin binding profiles of HIF1 and HIF2 and linked that to transcriptional networks and the cellular metabolic state. Genome-wide ChIP-seq and transcriptome studies revealed that overlapping HIF1- and HIF2-controlled loci were highly enriched for various processes like including metabolism, particularly those involved in glucose metabolism, but also for chromatin organization, cellular response to stress and G protein-coupled receptor signaling. ChIP-qPCR validation studies confirmed that glycolysis-related genes - but not genes related to the TCA cycle or glutaminolysis - were controlled by both HIF1 and HIF2 in leukemic cell lines and primary AMLs, while in healthy human CD34+ cells these loci were predominantly controlled by HIF1 but not HIF2. However, and in contrast to our initial hypotheses, CRISPR/Cas9-mediated knockout of HIF signaling did not affect growth, internal metabolite concentrations, glucose consumption or lactate production under hypoxia. These data indicate that, while HIFs exert control over glycolysis but not OxPHOS gene expression in human leukemic cells, this is not critically important for their metabolic state.
Project description:First-in-human clinical trials illustrate the feasibility and translational potential of human pluripotent stem cell (hPSC)-based cell therapy in Parkinson’s disease (PD). However, a major unresolved challenge is the extensive cell death following transplantation with <10% of grafted dopamine neurons surviving. Here, we performed a pooled CRISPR/Cas9 screen to enhance survival of postmitotic dopamine neurons in vivo. We identified TP53-mediated apoptotic cell death as major contributor to dopamine neuron loss and uncovered a causal link of TNFa-NFκB signaling in limiting cell survival. A surface marker screen enabled the purification of midbrain dopamine neurons obviating the need for genetic reporters. Combining cell sorting with adalimumab pretreatment, a clinically approved TNFa inhibitor, enabled efficient engraftment of postmitotic dopamine neurons leading to extensive re-innervation and functional recovery in a preclinical PD mouse model. Thus, transient TNFa inhibition may present a clinically relevant strategy to enhance survival of human PSC-derived lineages in PD and beyond.