单细胞测序技术在纤维化疾病中的应用进展

Application Progress of Single-cell RNA Sequencing Technology in Fibrotic Diseases

纤维化疾病是由异常的损伤修复反应引起的病理改变,通常表现为间质细胞及细胞外基质的过度沉积,导致组织器官结构破坏和功能丧失,是许多疾病致残、致死的主要原因。单细胞测序技术出现之前,对纤维化疾病的研究主要局限于组织层面及细胞的平均状况,缺乏单一细胞水平的研究,在揭示细胞异质性或疾病相关细胞类型方面还存在很多局限性,这可能是纤维化疾病发病机制尚未完全阐明的重要原因。本文对单细胞测序技术在纤维化疾病中的最新研究进展进行总结和评述,从单个细胞层面鉴别纤维化疾病间质细胞的异质性和细胞亚型及其发挥的作用,以期为纤维化疾病发病机制的深入研究提供一定参考。

Fibrotic diseases are a tissue fibrotic disorder arising following an aberrant wound-healing response.Fibrosis,characterized by interstitial cells proliferation and excessive accumulation of extracellular matrix(ECM),contributes to a high level of morbidity and mortality worldwide.Fibrosis can affect any organ,leading to progressive tissue and organ dysfunction.To date,the etiopathogenesis of fibrotic diseases has not been thoroughly elucidated,which is partially due to the incompleteunderstanding of the heterogeneity and subtype.The development of single-cell RNA-sequencing gives us an opportunity to explore pathogenesis of the fibrotic diseases under the heterogeneity and subcluster.Compared with the average expression of genes from a mixed cell population obtained via high-throughput sequencing,large-scale single-cell RNA-seq allows unbiased assessment of cellular heterogeneity at an unprecedented scale and resolution.In this review,we primarily focus on the recent insights into the heterogeneity and subclass of mesenchymal cells in fibrotic tissues by scRNA-seq.Therefore,it will greatly benefit to facilitate our comprehension of pathogenic mechanisms of fibrotic diseases.