Alveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of the pulmonary veins (ACDMPV)

Minzhe Guo1, Kathryn A. Wikenheiser-Brokamp1, Joseph A. Kitzmiller1, Cheng Jiang1, Guolun Wang1, Allen Wang2, Sebastian Preissl2, Yifei Miao1, David B. Frank3, William J. Zacharias1, Xin Sun2, Yan Xu1, Mingxia Gu1, Pawel Stankiewicz4, Vladimir V. Kalinichenko1, Jennifer A. Wambach5, Jeffrey A. Whitsett1
1Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, 2University of California, San Diego, 3Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, 4Baylor College of Medicine, 5Washington University School of Medicine, *Corresponding author
Description ACDMPV is a lethal developmental disorder of lung morphogenesis caused by insufficiency of FOXF1 (forkhead box F1) transcription factor function. The cellular and transcriptional mechanisms by which FOXF1 deficiency disrupts human lung formation are unknown. To identify cell types, gene networks, and cell-cell interactions underlying the pathogenesis of ACDMPV. We used single-nucleus RNA and assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing, immunofluorescence confocal microscopy, and RNA in situ hybridization to identify cell types and molecular networks influenced by FOXF1 in ACDMPV lungs. Pathogenic single-nucleotide variants and copy-number variant deletions involving the FOXF1 gene locus in all subjects with ACDMPV (n = 6) were accompanied by marked changes in lung structure, including deficient alveolar development and a paucity of pulmonary microvasculature. Single-nucleus RNA and assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing identified alterations in cell number and gene expression in endothelial cells (ECs), pericytes, fibroblasts, and epithelial cells in ACDMPV lungs. Distinct cell-autonomous roles for FOXF1 in capillary ECs and pericytes were identified. Pathogenic variants involving the FOXF1 gene locus disrupt gene expression in EC progenitors, inhibiting the differentiation or survival of capillary 2 ECs and cell-cell interactions necessary for both pulmonary vasculogenesis and alveolar type 1 cell differentiation. Loss of the pulmonary microvasculature was associated with increased VEGFA (vascular endothelial growth factor A) signaling and marked expansion of systemic bronchial ECs expressing COL15A1 (collagen type XV α 1 chain). Distinct FOXF1 gene regulatory networks were identified in subsets of pulmonary endothelial and fibroblast progenitors, providing both cellular and molecular targets for the development of therapies for ACDMPV and other diffuse lung diseases of infancy.
Dataset ID LMEX0000004408
Assay Type Single-cell RNA-seq
Organism Human
Stages Neonate | Infant | Child
Cell Count 17836
Technology 10x Genomics Chromium Single Cell Gene Expression
Reference Guo, et al. (2023)
FileDescriptionSize
ACDMPV_library_metadata.tsvLibrary metadata for the 5 libraries, one row each. Carries the donor, sex, age, age range, reported ethnicity, disease, anatomic region, cause of death and the nuclei each library contributes. The Samples tab shows only the fourteen columns the site defines for a human sample, so this file carries the rest.0.9 KB
ACDMPV_release_counts.h5adRelease object for this study, HDF5 AnnData, gzip compressed. 17,836 nuclei x 34,659 genes over 60 CellRef2.0 v7 cell states and 5 libraries. X holds RAW INTEGER COUNTS, not a normalized matrix. obs carries the CellRef2.0 v7 cell state, its short name, the library, the donor age, age range and reported ethnicity, and the cellHarmony alignment score of every nucleus. obsm carries the UMAP. The site viewers read a log2 counts per ten thousand matrix rebuilt from these counts.132.4 MB
LungMAP IDAlt IDSpeciesSexRaceAgeAge GroupHealth Status
LMSPACD0000001ACD1Homo sapiensMaleEuropean2 years1-4 yearsalveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins
LMSPACD0000002ACD2Homo sapiensMaleEuropean3.5 years1-4 yearsalveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins
LMSPACD0000003ACD3Homo sapiensMaleHispanic or Latin American9 years5-9 yearsalveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins
LMSPACD0000004ACD4Homo sapiensMaleEuropean5 years5-9 yearsalveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins
LMSPACD0000005ACD5Homo sapiensMaleEuropean1 years1-4 yearsalveolar capillary dysplasia with misalignment of pulmonary veins