Spatial transcriptomics of meningeal inflammation reveals inflammatory gene signatures in adjacent brain parenchyma

• Published in: eLife Vol. 12
• Main Authors: Gadani, Sachin P, Singh, Saumitra, Kim, Sophia, Hu, Jingwen, Smith, Matthew D, Calabresi, Peter A, Bhargava, Pavan
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England eLife Science Publications, Ltd 30.10.2024; eLife Sciences Publications Ltd; eLife Sciences Publications, Ltd
• Subjects: Animals; Antigen presentation; Antigen processing; B cells; Brain; Brain - metabolism; Brain - pathology; Disease Models, Animal; Encephalomyelitis; experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; Female; Gene Expression Profiling; Genes; Genomics; gray matter degeneration; Immunoglobulins; Immunology and Inflammation; Infection control; Inflammation; Inflammation - genetics; Magnetic Resonance Imaging; Male; Medical treatment; meningeal inflammation; Meninges - pathology; Mice; Mice, Inbred C57BL; Multiple sclerosis; Neurodegeneration; Neuroimaging; Neuroscience; Parenchyma; Parenchymal Tissue - pathology; Pathology; Risk factors; Short Report; Signal processing; Signal transduction; spatial transcriptomics; Substantia grisea; Transcriptome; Transcriptomics; Tumor necrosis factor-TNF; gray matter degeneration; mouse; experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis; meningeal inflammation; inflammation; multiple sclerosis; neuroscience; spatial transcriptomics; immunology
• ISSN: 2050-084X; 2050-084X
• DOI: 10.7554/eLife.88414

While modern high efficacy disease modifying therapies have revolutionized the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, they are less effective at controlling progressive forms of the disease. Meningeal inflammation is a recognized risk factor for cortical gray matter pathology which can result in disabling symptoms such as cognitive impairment and depression, but the mechanisms linking meningeal inflammation and gray matter pathology remain unclear. Here, we performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-guided spatial transcriptomics in a mouse model of autoimmune meningeal inflammation to characterize the transcriptional signature in areas of meningeal inflammation and the underlying brain parenchyma. We found broadly increased activity of inflammatory signaling pathways at sites of meningeal inflammation, but only a subset of these pathways active in the adjacent brain parenchyma. Subclustering of regions adjacent to meningeal inflammation revealed the subset of immune programs induced in brain parenchyma, notably complement signaling and antigen processing/presentation. Trajectory gene and gene set modeling analysis confirmed variable penetration of immune signatures originating from meningeal inflammation into the adjacent brain tissue. This work contributes a valuable data resource to the field, provides the first detailed spatial transcriptomic characterization in a model of meningeal inflammation, and highlights several candidate pathways in the pathogenesis of gray matter pathology.