Spatial Transcriptomic Analysis Reveals Dysregulated Pro-Inflammatory Signaling in the Aged Lung

Older individuals are more susceptible to viral and bacterial respiratory infections than younger people. While structural lung changes and a hyperinflammatory milieu have been proposed to contribute to worsened clinical outcomes, exact mechanisms remain elusive. Clinical specimens are challenging to obtain and although rodents are valuable models of human disease, their specific pathogen free status and inbred genetics limit translation of findings obtained from these models. We sought to address this question by analyzing the transcriptional landscape of lung tissue obtained from young and aged rhesus macaque using Visium spatial transcriptomics. Unlike rodents, captive rhesus macaques are genetically outbred and exposed to natural particulates and respiratory microbes that modulate their lung immunity. Analysis identified immune and structural cells clusters. Differential gene expression revealed a strong pro-inflammatory bias in aged animals while transcriptional signatures in young animals were consistent with a regulatory phenotype. Moreover, cellular signaling important for adhesion, tissue maintenance, and cell migration was significantly reduced in the aged compared to young lungs. These data indicate that aged lungs are skewed towards hyperinflammatory responses which are likely to result in higher immune mediated damage following challenge.