Heterogeneity of immune cells in human atherosclerosis revealed by scRNA-Seq

• Published in: Cardiovascular research Vol. 117; no. 13; pp. 2537 - 2543
• Main Authors: Vallejo, Jenifer, Cochain, Clément, Zernecke, Alma, Ley, Klaus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: England Oxford University Press 22.11.2021
• Subjects: Animals; Atherosclerosis - genetics; Atherosclerosis - immunology; Atherosclerosis - metabolism; Atherosclerosis - pathology; Editor's Choice; Gene Expression Profiling; Genetic Heterogeneity; Humans; Immune System - immunology; Immune System - metabolism; Immune System - pathology; Immunophenotyping; Invited Spotlight Reviews; Leukocytes - immunology; Leukocytes - metabolism; Leukocytes - pathology; Mice; Myeloid Cells - immunology; Myeloid Cells - metabolism; Myeloid Cells - pathology; Phenotype; Plaque, Atherosclerotic; RNA-Seq; Single-Cell Analysis; Transcriptome; Transcriptomes; Human; Antibodies; scRNA-Seq; Atherosclerosis
• ISSN: 0008-6363; 1755-3245; 1755-3245
• DOI: 10.1093/cvr/cvab260

Abstract Immune cells in atherosclerosis include T, B, natural killer (NK) and NKT cells, macrophages, monocytes, dendritic cells (DCs), neutrophils, and mast cells. Advances in single-cell RNA sequencing (sRNA-Seq) have refined our understanding of immune cell subsets. Four recent studies have used scRNA-Seq of immune cells in human atherosclerotic lesions and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), some including cell surface phenotypes revealed by oligonucleotide-tagged antibodies, which confirmed known and identified new immune cell subsets and identified genes significantly up-regulated in PBMCs from HIV+ subjects with atherosclerosis compared to PBMCs from matched HIV+ subjects without atherosclerosis. The ability of scRNA-Seq to identify cell types is greatly augmented by adding cell surface phenotype using antibody sequencing. In this review, we summarize the latest data obtained by scRNA-Seq on plaques and human PBMCs in human subjects with atherosclerosis.