英国剑桥大学和威康桑格研究所的Menna R. Clatworthy、Sam Behjati、Sarah A. Teichmann和Muzlifah Haniffa等研究人员合作绘制了人类肾脏的时空性免疫分区图谱。这一研究成果于2019年9月27日发表在国际学术期刊《科学》上。

研究人员使用单细胞RNA测序来解决了人肾脏的时空免疫拓扑结构。研究人员揭示了上皮区室中解剖学定义的免疫基因表达模式，在成熟的但不是胎儿肾脏的肾盂上皮中有明显的抗菌肽转录物。在胎儿和成熟的肾脏中都存在着组织驻留的髓样和淋巴样免疫细胞的网络，并在产后获得了促进感染防御能力的转录程序。上皮与免疫的交流将抗菌巨噬细胞和嗜中性粒细胞精心安排在最容易感染的肾脏区域。

总体而言，这项研究为人类肾脏的免疫格局如何分区以应对主要的免疫学挑战提供了综合概述。

据悉，组织驻留的免疫细胞对于器官的稳态和防御很重要。上皮可以直接或通过与免疫细胞交流来实现这些功能。

附：英文原文

Title: Spatiotemporal immune zonation of the human kidney

Author: Benjamin J. Stewart, John R. Ferdinand, Matthew D. Young, Thomas J. Mitchell, Kevin W. Loudon, Alexandra M. Riding, Nathan Richoz, Gordon L. Frazer, Joy U. L. Staniforth, Felipe A. Vieira Braga, Rachel A. Botting, Dorin-Mirel Popescu, Roser Vento-Tormo, Emily Stephenson, Alex Cagan, Sarah J. Farndon, Krzysztof Polanski, Mirjana Efremova, Kile Green, Martin Del Castillo Velasco-Herrera, Charlotte Guzzo, Grace Collord, Lira Mamanova, Tevita Aho, James N. Armitage, Antony C. P. Riddick, Imran Mushtaq, Stephen Farrell, Dyanne Rampling, James Nicholson, Andrew Filby, Johanna Burge, Steven Lisgo, Susan Lindsay, Marc Bajenoff, Anne Y. Warren, Grant D. Stewart, Neil Sebire, Nicholas Coleman, Muzlifah Haniffa, Sarah A. Teichmann, Sam Behjati, Menna R. Clatworthy

Issue&Volume: Volume 365 Issue 6460

Abstract: 

Tissue-resident immune cells are important for organ homeostasis and defense. The epithelium may contribute to these functions directly or by cross-talk with immune cells. We used single-cell RNA sequencing to resolve the spatiotemporal immune topology of the human kidney. We reveal anatomically defined expression patterns of immune genes within the epithelial compartment, with antimicrobial peptide transcripts evident in pelvic epithelium in the mature, but not fetal, kidney. A network of tissue-resident myeloid and lymphoid immune cells was evident in both fetal and mature kidney, with postnatal acquisition of transcriptional programs that promote infection-defense capabilities. Epithelial-immune cross-talk orchestrated localization of antibacterial macrophages and neutrophils to the regions of the kidney most susceptible to infection. Overall, our study provides a global overview of how the immune landscape of the human kidney is zonated to counter the dominant immunological challenge.

DOI: 10.1126/science.aat5031

Source:https://science.sciencemag.org/content/365/6460/1461