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High-Dimensional Mass Cytometry Reveals Emphysema-associated Changes in the Pulmonary Immune System

American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine, vol. 210, pp. 1002–1016

Abstract

Abstract Rationale Chronic inflammation plays an important role in alveolar tissue damage in emphysema, but the underlying immune alterations and cellular interactions are incompletely understood. Objectives To explore disease-specific pulmonary immune cell alterations and cellular interactions in emphysema. Methods We used single-cell mass cytometry (CyTOF) to compare the immune compartment in alveolar tissue from 15 patients with severe emphysema and 5 control subjects. Imaging mass cytometry (IMC) was applied to identify altered cell–cell interactions in alveolar tissue from patients with emphysema (n = 12) compared with control subjects (n = 8). Measurements and Main Results We observed higher percentages of central memory CD4 T cells in combination with lower proportions of effector memory CD4 T cells in emphysema. In addition, proportions of cytotoxic central memory CD8 T cells and CD127+CD27+CD69− T cells were higher in emphysema, the latter potentially reflecting an influx of circulating lymphocytes into the lungs. Central memory CD8 T cells, isolated from alveolar tissue from patients with emphysema, exhibited an IFN-γ response upon anti-CD3 and anti-CD28 activation. Proportions of CD1c+ dendritic cells, expressing migratory and costimulatory markers, were higher in emphysema. Importantly, IMC enabled us to visualize increased spatial colocalization of CD1c+ dendritic cells and CD8 T cells in emphysema in situ. Conclusions Using CyTOF, we characterized the alterations of the immune cell signature in alveolar tissue from patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease stage III or IV emphysema versus control lung tissue. These data contribute to a better understanding of the pathogenesis of emphysema and highlight the feasibility of interrogating the immune cell signature using CyTOF and IMC in human lung tissue. Clinical trial registered with www.clinicaltrials.gov (NCT04918706).

Authors 14

  1. Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Immunology

    Department of Pulmonology, PulmoScience Lab, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Immunology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  2. Jilin University

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Immunology

    State Key Laboratory for Diagnosis and Treatment of Severe Zoonotic Infectious Diseases, Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research of the Ministry of Education, Institute of Zoonosis and College of Veterinary Medicine, Jilin University, Changchun, China

    Jilin University College of Veterinary Medicine, 623721, Key Laboratory of Zoonosis Research, Changchun, Jilin, China

  3. Cairo University · Leiden University Medical Center · Delft University of Technology

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Radiology

    Pattern Recognition and Bioinformatics, Delft University of Technology, Delft, the Netherlands

    Systems and Biomedical Engineering Department, Faculty of Engineering, Cairo University, Giza, Egypt; and

    Cairo University, 63526, Dept of Systems and Biomedical Engineering, Giza, Egypt

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Radiology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  4. Nannan Guo Aachen

    Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Immunology

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Immunology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  5. Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Pathology, and

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Pathology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  6. Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Immunology

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Immunology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  7. Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Immunology

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Immunology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  8. Qinyue Jiang Aachen

    Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Immunology

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Immunology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  9. Yanling Xiao Aachen

    Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Immunology

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Immunology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  10. Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Immunology

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Immunology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  11. Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Pulmonology, PulmoScience Lab, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Department of Pulmonology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  12. Frits Koning Aachen

    Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Immunology

    Leiden Universitair Medisch Centrum, 4501, Immunology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  13. Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Pulmonology, PulmoScience Lab, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Pulmonology, Leiden, Zuid-Holland, Netherlands

  14. Leiden University Medical Center

    Affiliation as printed

    Department of Pulmonology, PulmoScience Lab, Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, the Netherlands

    Leiden University Medical Center, 4501, Pulmonology, Leiden, Netherlands;

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References 56