Single-cell transcriptome profiling reveals enriched memory T-cell subpopulations in hypertension

Xiaoqi Wang; Xiaobin Wu; Pei Zhang; Yuan Zhou; Jun Cai; Ling Jin

doi:10.3389/fcell.2023.1132040

Single-cell transcriptome profiling reveals enriched memory T-cell subpopulations in hypertension

Front Cell Dev Biol. 2023 Mar 16:11:1132040. doi: 10.3389/fcell.2023.1132040. eCollection 2023.

Authors

Xiaoqi Wang¹, Xiaobin Wu², Pei Zhang³, Yuan Zhou², Jun Cai¹, Ling Jin^{1

4}

Affiliations

¹ Hypertension Center, Fuwai Hospital, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and Peking Union Medical College, State Key Laboratory of Cardiovascular Disease, National Center for Cardiovascular Diseases, Beijing, China.
² Department of Biomedical Informatics, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of Molecular Cardiovascular Sciences, Peking University, Beijing, China.
³ Department of Hypertension, Zhengzhou Central Hospital Affiliated to Zhengzhou University, Henan, China.
⁴ Center of Basic Medical Research, Institute of Medical Innovation and Research, Peking University Third Hospital, Beijing, China.

Abstract

Introduction: The adaptive immune response mediated by T cells plays a vital role in the initiation and maintenance of blood pressure (BP) elevation. Memory T cells, which are antigen-specific T cells, can respond specifically to repeated hypertensive stimuli. Although the roles of memory T cells in animal models are well studied, their maintenance and functions in hypertensive patients are poorly understood. Method: Here, we focused on the circulating memory T cells of hypertensive patients. By using single-cell RNA sequencing technology, subsets of memory T cells were identified. Differentially expressed genes (DEGs) and functional pathways were explored for related biological functions in each population of memory T cells. Result and Discussion: Our study identified four subsets of memory T cells in the blood of hypertensive patients, with CD8 effector memory T (TEM) cells accounting for more cells and demonstrating more biological functions than CD4 TEM cells. CD8 TEM cells were further analyzed using single-cell RNA sequencing technology, and subpopulation 1 was demonstrated to contribute to BP elevation. The key marker genes CKS2, PLIN2, and CNBP were identified and validated by mass-spectrum flow cytometry. Our data suggest that CD8 TEM cells as well as the marker genes could be preventive targets for patients with hypertensive cardiovascular disease.

Keywords: CD8 effector memory T cells; hypertension; inflammation; memory T cells; single-cell transcriptome profiling.

Associated data

figshare/10.6084/m9.figshare.21762584.v1

Grants and funding

This work was supported by the National Key R&D Program of China (2018YFC1312703 to JC), the CAMS Innovation Fund for Medical Sciences (CIFMS, 2021-I2M-1-007 to JC), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (81825002 to JC, 32070658 to YZ, 81700374 to LJ), and the Beijing Outstanding Young Scientist Program (BJJWZYJH01201910023029 to JC).