Single-cell transcriptomic analysis identifies an immune-prone population in erythroid precursors during human ontogenesis.
Changlu XuJian HeHongtao WangYingnan ZhangJing WuLu ZhaoYue LiJie GaoGuangfeng GengBingrui WangXiaoyuan ChenZhaofeng ZhengBiao ShenYang ZengZhijie BaiHua YangShujuan ShiFang DongShihui MaErlie JiangTao ChengYu LanJiaxi ZhouBing LiuLihong ShiPublished in: Nature immunology (2022)
Nonimmune cells can have immunomodulatory roles that contribute to healthy development. However, the molecular and cellular mechanisms underlying the immunomodulatory functions of erythroid cells during human ontogenesis remain elusive. Here, integrated, single-cell transcriptomic studies of erythroid cells from the human yolk sac, fetal liver, preterm umbilical cord blood (UCB), term UCB and adult bone marrow (BM) identified classical and immune subsets of erythroid precursors with divergent differentiation trajectories. Immune-erythroid cells were present from the yolk sac to the adult BM throughout human ontogenesis but failed to be generated in vitro from human embryonic stem cells. Compared with classical-erythroid precursors, these immune-erythroid cells possessed dual erythroid and immune regulatory networks, showed immunomodulatory functions and interacted more frequently with various innate and adaptive immune cells. Our findings provide important insights into the nature of immune-erythroid cells and their roles during development and diseases.
Keyphrases
- induced apoptosis
- endothelial cells
- single cell
- bone marrow
- induced pluripotent stem cells
- mesenchymal stem cells
- immune response
- endoplasmic reticulum stress
- umbilical cord
- oxidative stress
- pluripotent stem cells
- high throughput
- preterm infants
- depressive symptoms
- cell death
- dna methylation
- young adults
- cell proliferation
- single molecule
- preterm birth
- childhood cancer
- case control