Zhang Qianqian, Zhao Ran, Shen Xuemin, Sun Kai
Department of Oral Medicine, Shanghai Ninth People's Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, College of Stomatology, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, National Center for Stomatology, National Clinical Research Center for Oral Diseases, Shanghai Key Laboratory of Stomatology, Shanghai Research Institute of Stomatology, Shanghai, China.
J Dent Sci. 2024 Oct;19(4):2210-2217. doi: 10.1016/j.jds.2024.03.002. Epub 2024 Mar 11.
BACKGROUND/PURPOSE: Oral lichen planus (OLP) is a chronic inflammatory disease with obscure etiopathogenesis. Macrophages play an important role in interaction between innate and adaptive immunity. This study aimed to investigate the macrophage phenotypes and obtain more comprehensive gene characteristics of macrophages in OLP.
Double cluster of differentiation (CD) 68/CD86 and CD68/CD206 immunofluorescence staining was conducted in 11 biopsy-proven OLP tissue samples and 5 health control (HC) to represent M1 and M2 macrophages, respectively. The number of positively stained cells was manually counted, and the density was calculated. Furtherly, OLP single-cell dataset GSE211630 was downloaded from Gene Expression Omnibus. Gene characteristics and functional analysis of the macrophages were elucidated.
In the OLP group, the densities of M1 ( < 0.001), M2 macrophages ( < 0.001) and M1/M2 ratio ( = 0.001) were significantly higher than those in HC group. Single-cell RNA sequencing revealed that proportions of CXCL10 macrophages ( = 0.003), IL1B/MMP19 macrophages ( < 0.001) were increased in OLP tissues compared with those in HC. Macrophages in OLP tissues had a stronger ability to cell chemotaxis, positive regulation of cell adhesion and antigen processing and presentation. Functional analysis revealed macrophages in OLP tissues could interact with multiple immune cells, and multiple signaling pathways were associated with macrophages in OLP.
A pro-inflammatory status of macrophages with different gene characteristics was found in the microenvironment of OLP by integrating immunofluorescence double staining and single-cell RNA sequencing, which provided a potential target for clinical treatment of OLP.
背景/目的：口腔扁平苔藓（OLP）是一种病因不明的慢性炎症性疾病。巨噬细胞在固有免疫和适应性免疫的相互作用中起重要作用。本研究旨在探讨OLP中巨噬细胞的表型，并获得更全面的巨噬细胞基因特征。
对11例经活检证实的OLP组织样本和5例健康对照（HC）进行双分化簇（CD）68/CD86和CD68/CD206免疫荧光染色，分别代表M1和M2巨噬细胞。手动计数阳性染色细胞的数量，并计算密度。此外，从基因表达综合数据库下载OLP单细胞数据集GSE211630。阐明巨噬细胞的基因特征和功能分析。
在OLP组中，M1巨噬细胞（<0.001）、M2巨噬细胞（<0.001）的密度和M1/M2比值（=0.001）均显著高于HC组。单细胞RNA测序显示，与HC组相比，OLP组织中CXCL10巨噬细胞（=0.003）、IL1B/MMP19巨噬细胞（<0.001）的比例增加。OLP组织中的巨噬细胞具有更强的细胞趋化能力、细胞黏附的正调控能力以及抗原加工和呈递能力。功能分析显示，OLP组织中的巨噬细胞可与多种免疫细胞相互作用，且多种信号通路与OLP中的巨噬细胞相关。
通过整合免疫荧光双重染色和单细胞RNA测序，发现在OLP微环境中巨噬细胞处于具有不同基因特征的促炎状态，这为OLP的临床治疗提供了潜在靶点。
