Spatial transcriptomics of healthy and fibrotic human liver at single-cell resolution

Abstract Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has advanced our understanding of cell types and their heterogeneity within the human liver, but the spatial organization at single-cell resolution has not yet been described. Here we apply multiplexed error robust fluorescent in situ hybridization (ME...

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Main Authors: Brianna R. Watson, Biplab Paul, Raza Ur Rahman, Liat Amir-Zilberstein, Åsa Segerstolpe, Eliana T. Epstein, Shane Murphy, Ludwig Geistlinger, Tyrone Lee, Angela Shih, Jacques Deguine, Ramnik J. Xavier, Jeffrey R. Moffitt, Alan C. Mullen
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Nature Portfolio 2025-01-01
Series:Nature Communications
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-024-55325-4
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Summary:Abstract Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) has advanced our understanding of cell types and their heterogeneity within the human liver, but the spatial organization at single-cell resolution has not yet been described. Here we apply multiplexed error robust fluorescent in situ hybridization (MERFISH) to map the zonal distribution of hepatocytes, spatially resolve subsets of macrophage and mesenchymal populations, and investigate the relationship between hepatocyte ploidy and gene expression within the healthy human liver. Integrating spatial information from MERFISH with the more complete transcriptome produced by single-nucleus RNA sequencing (snRNA-seq), also reveals zonally enriched receptor-ligand interactions. Finally, MERFISH and snRNA-seq analysis of fibrotic liver samples identify two hepatocyte populations that expand with injury and do not have clear zonal distributions. Together these spatial maps of the healthy and fibrotic liver provide a deeper understanding of the cellular and spatial remodeling that drives disease which, in turn, could provide new avenues for intervention and further study.
ISSN:2041-1723