Wang Pingzhang, Han Wenling, Ma Dalong
Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China; Peking University Center for Human Disease Genomics, Beijing 100191, China; and Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Ministry of Health, Beijing 100191, China
Department of Immunology, School of Basic Medical Sciences, Peking University Health Science Center, Beijing 100191, China; Peking University Center for Human Disease Genomics, Beijing 100191, China; and Key Laboratory of Medical Immunology, Ministry of Health, Beijing 100191, China.
J Immunol. 2016 Jul 15;197(2):665-73. doi: 10.4049/jimmunol.1502552. Epub 2016 Jun 10.
Immune cells are highly heterogeneous and plastic with regard to gene expression and cell phenotype. In this study, we categorized genes into those with low and high gene plasticity, and those categories revealed different functions and applications. We proposed that highly plastic genes could be suited for the labeling of immune cell subpopulations; thus, novel immune cell subpopulations could be identified by gene plasticity analysis. For this purpose, we systematically analyzed highly plastic genes in human and mouse immune cells. In total, 1,379 human and 883 mouse genes were identified as being extremely plastic. We also expanded our previous immunoinformatic method, electronic sorting, which surveys big data to perform virtual analysis. This approach used correlation analysis and took dosage changes into account, which allowed us to identify the differentially expressed genes. A test with human CD4(+) T cells supported the method's feasibility, effectiveness, and predictability. For example, with the use of human nonregulatory T cells, we found that FOXP3(hi)CD4(+) T cells were highly expressive of certain known molecules, such as CD25 and CTLA4, and that this process of investigation did not require isolating or inducing these immune cells in vitro. Therefore, the sorting process helped us to discover the potential signature genes or marker molecules and to conduct functional evaluations for immune cell subpopulations. Finally, in human CD4(+) T cells, 747 potential immune cell subpopulations and their candidate signature genes were identified, which provides a useful resource for big data-driven knowledge discoveries.
免疫细胞在基因表达和细胞表型方面具有高度的异质性和可塑性。在本研究中,我们将基因分为基因可塑性低和高的两类,这些类别显示出不同的功能和应用。我们提出,高可塑性基因可能适合用于免疫细胞亚群的标记;因此,可以通过基因可塑性分析来识别新的免疫细胞亚群。为此,我们系统地分析了人类和小鼠免疫细胞中的高可塑性基因。总共鉴定出1379个人类基因和883个小鼠基因具有极高的可塑性。我们还扩展了我们之前的免疫信息学方法——电子分选,该方法通过调查大数据来进行虚拟分析。这种方法使用相关性分析并考虑剂量变化,使我们能够识别差异表达的基因。对人类CD4(+) T细胞的测试支持了该方法的可行性、有效性和可预测性。例如,使用人类非调节性T细胞,我们发现FOXP3(hi)CD4(+) T细胞高表达某些已知分子,如CD25和CTLA4,并且这种研究过程不需要在体外分离或诱导这些免疫细胞。因此,分选过程帮助我们发现潜在的特征基因或标记分子,并对免疫细胞亚群进行功能评估。最后,在人类CD4(+) T细胞中,鉴定出747个潜在的免疫细胞亚群及其候选特征基因,这为大数据驱动的知识发现提供了有用的资源。
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