Single-cell transcriptome maps of myeloid blood cell lineages in Drosophila

• Published in: Nature communications Vol. 11; no. 1; p. 4483
• Main Authors: Cho, Bumsik, Yoon, Sang-Ho, Lee, Daewon, Koranteng, Ferdinand, Tattikota, Sudhir Gopal, Cha, Nuri, Shin, Mingyu, Do, Hobin, Hu, Yanhui, Oh, Sue Young, Lee, Daehan, Vipin Menon, A., Moon, Seok Jun, Perrimon, Norbert, Nam, Jin-Wu, Shim, Jiwon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 08.09.2020; Nature Publishing Group; Nature Portfolio
• Subjects: 14; 14/1; 14/19; 38/32; 38/39; 38/43; 38/89; 38/91; 631/136/142; 631/136/232/2059; 631/136/532/1542; 631/250/2504; 64/24; 82/51; Blood cells; Cell-mediated immunity; Drosophila; Gene expression; Gene sequencing; Hematopoiesis; Hemocytes; Heterogeneity; Humanities and Social Sciences; Immune response; Immunity; Infestation; Insects; Lymph; Lymph gland; multidisciplinary; Myeloid cells; Plasmatocytes; Ribonucleic acid; RNA; Science; Science (multidisciplinary); Vertebrates
• ISSN: 2041-1723; 2041-1723
• DOI: 10.1038/s41467-020-18135-y

The Drosophila lymph gland, the larval hematopoietic organ comprised of prohemocytes and mature hemocytes, has been a valuable model for understanding mechanisms underlying hematopoiesis and immunity. Three types of mature hemocytes have been characterized in the lymph gland: plasmatocytes, lamellocytes, and crystal cells, which are analogous to vertebrate myeloid cells, yet molecular underpinnings of the lymph gland hemocytes have been less investigated. Here, we use single-cell RNA sequencing to comprehensively analyze heterogeneity of developing hemocytes in the lymph gland, and discover previously undescribed hemocyte types including adipohemocytes, stem-like prohemocytes, and intermediate prohemocytes. Additionally, we identify the developmental trajectory of hemocytes during normal development as well as the emergence of the lamellocyte lineage following active cellular immunity caused by wasp infestation. Finally, we establish similarities and differences between embryonically derived- and larval lymph gland hemocytes. Altogether, our study provides detailed insights into the hemocyte development and cellular immune responses at single-cell resolution. How the Drosophila lymph gland hemocytes develop and are regulated at a single-cell level is unclear. Here, the authors use single-cell RNA sequencing to show heterogeneity of developing hemocytes in the lymph gland and how they react to wasp infestation, and compare hemocytes from two independent origins.