Single cell analyses to understand the immune continuum in atherosclerosis

Area of Science:

• Immunology
• Cardiovascular Biology
• Genomics

Background:

• Atherosclerosis involves lipid accumulation and complex inflammation in arteries.
• Targeting immune alterations shows promise for preventing recurrent cardiovascular events in CVD patients.
• Resolving the atherosclerotic lesion's cellular heterogeneity is crucial for tailored therapies.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review insights from single-cell approaches in atherosclerosis research.
• To examine challenges and discoveries applying single-cell methods to human vascular tissue.
• To analyze dissociative vs. in-situ single-cell technologies for atherosclerosis.

Main Methods:

• Single-cell mass cytometry by time of flight (CyTOF)
• Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq)
• Cellular Indexing of Transcriptomes and Epitopes by Sequencing (CITE-seq)

Main Results:

• Single-cell approaches have elucidated cellular plasticity within atherosclerotic lesions.
• Application to experimental atherosclerosis models has yielded significant insights.
• Initial efforts in human vascular tissue reveal challenges and discoveries.

Conclusions:

• Single-cell technologies are invaluable for understanding atherosclerosis at an unprecedented resolution.
• Translating these findings to human tissues requires overcoming specific challenges.
• In-situ technologies offer potential to preserve tissue architecture for future research.