Pluto Bioinformatics

GSE155405: Kidney tertiary lymphoid structures in Lupus Nephritis develop into large interconnected networks and resembles lymph nodes in gene signature.

Bulk RNA sequencing

Immune aggregates organized as tertiary lymphoid structures (TLS) are observed within kidneys of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients with lupus nephritis (LN). We characterized renal TLS in lupus-prone (NZBxNZW) F1 mice with respect to cell composition and vessel formation. Ribonucleic acid (RNA) sequencing was performed on transcriptomes isolated from Lymph nodes (LyN), macro-dissected TLS from kidneys, and total kidneys of mice at different disease stages by using Ion Torrent Personal Genome Machine (Ion PGM) and RNAseq from Illumina. Formation of TLS was found in anti-dsDNA antibody positive mice and the structures were organized as interconnected large networks with distinct T and B cell zones with adjacent dendritic cells, macrophages, plasma cells, high endothelial venules, supporting follicular dendritic cells network, and functional germinal centers. Comparison of gene profiles of whole kidney, renal TLS and LyN revealed a similar gene signature of TLS and LyN. The upregulated genes within the kidneys of lupus-prone mice during the development of LN reflected the TLS formation, while the downregulated genes were involved in metabolic processes of the kidney cells. A comparison with human LN gene expression revealed similar upregulated genes as observed during the development of murine LN and TLS. We conclude that kidney TLS have a similar cell composition, structure and gene signature as LyN, and therefore may function as a kidney specific type of LyN. SOURCE: Kristin,Andreassen,Fenton (kristin.fenton@uit.no) - RNA and Molecular pathology UiT Norges arktiske universitet