Single cell ‘omic profiles of human aortic endothelial cellsin vitroand human atherosclerotic lesionsex vivoreveals heterogeneity of endothelial subtype and response to activating perturbations
Authors: Adelus Maria L. , Ding Jiacheng , Tran Binh T. , Conklin Austin C. , Golebiewski Anna K. , Stolze Lindsey K. , Whalen Michael B. , Cusanovich Darren A. , Romanoski Casey E. 
Published: April 2023

Objective

Endothelial cells (ECs), macrophages, and vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) are major cell types in atherosclerosis progression, and heterogeneity in EC sub-phenotypes are becoming increasingly appreciated. Still, studies quantifying EC heterogeneity across whole transcriptomes and epigenomes in bothin vitroandin vivomodels are lacking.

Approach and Results

To create anin vitrodataset to study human EC heterogeneity, multiomic profiling concurrently measuring transcriptomes and accessible chromatin in the same single cells was performed on six distinct primary cultures of human aortic ECs (HAECs). To model pro-inflammatory and activating environments characteristic of the atherosclerotic microenvironmentin vitro, HAECs from at least three donors were exposed to three distinct perturbations with their respective controls: transforming growth factor beta-2 (TGFB2), interleukin-1 beta (IL1B), and siRNA-mediated knock-down of the endothelial transcription factor ERG (siERG). To form a comprehensivein vivo/ex vivodataset of human atherosclerotic cell types, meta-analysis of single cell transcriptomes across 17 human arterial specimens was performed. Two computational approaches quantitatively evaluated the similarity in molecular profiles between heterogeneousin vitroandin vivocell profiles. HAEC cultures were reproducibly populated by 4 major clusters with distinct pathway enrichment profiles: EC1-angiogenic, EC2-proliferative, EC3-activated/mesenchymal-like, and EC4-mesenchymal. Exposure to siERG, IL1B or TGFB2 elicited mostly distinct transcriptional and accessible chromatin responses. EC1 and EC2, the most canonically ‘healthy’ EC populations, were affected predominantly by siERG; the activated cluster EC3 was most responsive to IL1B; and the mesenchymal population EC4 was most affected by TGFB2. Quantitative comparisons betweenin vitroandin vivotranscriptomes confirmed EC1 and EC2 as most canonically EC-like, and EC4 as most mesenchymal with minimal effects elicited by siERG and IL1B. Lastly, accessible chromatin regions unique to EC2 and EC4 were most enriched for coronary artery disease (CAD)-associated SNPs from GWAS, suggesting these cell phenotypes harbor CAD-modulating mechanisms.

Conclusion

Primary EC cultures contain markedly heterogeneous cell subtypes defined by their molecular profiles. Surprisingly, the perturbations used here, which have been reported by others to be involved in the pathogenesis of atherosclerosis as well as induce endothelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EndMT), only modestly shifted cells between subpopulations, suggesting relatively stable molecular phenotypes in culture. Identifying consistently heterogeneous EC subpopulations betweenin vitroandin vivomodels should pave the way for improvingin vitrosystems while enabling the mechanisms governing heterogeneous cell state decisions.