Transcriptomic characterization of culture-associated changes in murine and human precision-cut tissue slices

Emilia Bigaeva, Emilia Gore, Eric Simon, Matthias Zwick, Anouk Oldenburger, Koert P de Jong, Hendrik S Hofker, Marco Schlepütz, Paul Nicklin, Miriam Boersema, Jörg F Rippmann, Peter Olinga*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticleAcademicpeer-review

27 Citations (Scopus)
231 Downloads (Pure)

Abstract

Our knowledge of complex pathological mechanisms underlying organ fibrosis is predominantly derived from animal studies. However, relevance of animal models for human disease is limited; therefore, an ex vivo model of human precision-cut tissue slices (PCTS) might become an indispensable tool in fibrosis research and drug development by bridging the animal-human translational gap. This study, presented as two parts, provides comprehensive characterization of the dynamic transcriptional changes in PCTS during culture by RNA sequencing. Part I investigates the differences in culture-induced responses in murine and human PCTS derived from healthy liver, kidney and gut. Part II delineates the molecular processes in cultured human PCTS generated from diseased liver, kidney and ileum. We demonstrated that culture was associated with extensive transcriptional changes and impacted PCTS in a universal way across the organs and two species by triggering an inflammatory response and fibrosis-related extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling. All PCTS shared mRNA upregulation of IL-11 and ECM-degrading enzymes MMP3 and MMP10. Slice preparation and culturing activated numerous pathways across all PCTS, especially those involved in inflammation (IL-6, IL-8 and HMGB1 signalling) and tissue remodelling (osteoarthritis pathway and integrin signalling). Despite the converging effects of culture, PCTS display species-, organ- and pathology-specific differences in the regulation of genes and canonical pathways. The underlying pathology in human diseased PCTS endures and influences biological processes like cytokine release. Our study reinforces the use of PCTS as an ex vivo fibrosis model and supports future studies towards its validation as a preclinical tool for drug development.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)3549-3583
Number of pages35
JournalArchives of toxicology
Volume93
Issue number12
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 21-Nov-2019

Keywords

  • Precision-cut tissue slices
  • Fibrosis
  • Inflammation
  • Human tissue
  • RNA sequencing
  • Ingenuity pathway analysis
  • ACTIVATED RECEPTOR-ALPHA
  • EX-VIVO MODEL
  • MOLECULAR-MECHANISMS
  • LIVER SLICES
  • IN-VITRO
  • MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASES
  • INTESTINAL SLICES
  • OXIDATIVE STRESS
  • GENE-EXPRESSION
  • EARLY-ONSET

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Transcriptomic characterization of culture-associated changes in murine and human precision-cut tissue slices'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this