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Jonkman TH, Dekkers KF, Slieker RC, Grant CD, Ikram MA, van Greevenbroek MMJ, Franke L, Veldink JH, Boomsma DI, Slagboom PE, Consortium BIOS, Heijmans BT. Functional genomics analysis identifies T and NK cell activation as a driver of epigenetic clock progression. Genome Biol 2022; 23:24. [PMID: 35031073 PMCID: PMC8759260 DOI: 10.1186/s13059-021-02585-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 9.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Accepted: 12/20/2021] [Indexed: 02/01/2023] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Epigenetic clocks use DNA methylation (DNAm) levels of specific sets of CpG dinucleotides to accurately predict individual chronological age. A popular application of these clocks is to explore whether the deviation of predicted age from chronological age is associated with disease phenotypes, where this deviation is interpreted as a potential biomarker of biological age. This wide application, however, contrasts with the limited insight in the processes that may drive the running of epigenetic clocks. RESULTS We perform a functional genomics analysis on four epigenetic clocks, including Hannum's blood predictor and Horvath's multi-tissue predictor, using blood DNA methylome and transcriptome data from 3132 individuals. The four clocks result in similar predictions of individual chronological age, and their constituting CpGs are correlated in DNAm level and are enriched for similar histone modifications and chromatin states. Interestingly, DNAm levels of CpGs from the clocks are commonly associated with gene expression in trans. The gene sets involved are highly overlapping and enriched for T cell processes. Further analysis of the transcriptome and methylome of sorted blood cell types identifies differences in DNAm between naive and activated T and NK cells as a probable contributor to the clocks. Indeed, within the same donor, the four epigenetic clocks predict naive cells to be up to 40 years younger than activated cells. CONCLUSIONS The ability of epigenetic clocks to predict chronological age involves their ability to detect changes in proportions of naive and activated immune blood cells, an established feature of immuno-senescence. This finding may contribute to the interpretation of associations between clock-derived measures and age-related health outcomes.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas H Jonkman
- Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Koen F Dekkers
- Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - Roderick C Slieker
- Department of Cell and Chemical Biology, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC, Leiden, The Netherlands
- Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Amsterdam Public Health Institute, Amsterdam Cardiovascular Sciences Institute, Amsterdam UMC, location VUmc, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Crystal D Grant
- Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | - M Arfan Ikram
- Department of Epidemiology, Erasmus Medical Center, Doctor Molewaterplein 40, 3015 GD, Rotterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Marleen M J van Greevenbroek
- Department of Internal Medicine and School for Cardiovascular Diseases, Maastricht University Medical Center, Universiteitssingel 50, 6229 ER, Maastricht, The Netherlands
| | - Lude Franke
- Department of Genetics, University Medical Centre Groningen, Antonius Deusinglaan 1, 9713 AV, Groningen, The Netherlands
| | - Jan H Veldink
- Department of Neurology, Brain Center Rudolf Magnus, University Medical Center Utrecht, Universiteitsweg 100, 3584 CG, Utrecht, The Netherlands
| | - Dorret I Boomsma
- Department of Biological Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Van der Boechorststraat 1, 1081 BT, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - P Eline Slagboom
- Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC, Leiden, The Netherlands
| | | | - Bastiaan T Heijmans
- Molecular Epidemiology, Department of Biomedical Data Sciences, Leiden University Medical Center, Einthovenweg 20, 2333 ZC, Leiden, The Netherlands.
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Ramos G, Hofmann U, Frantz S. Immune repertoires in the failing heart: the global picture. Eur Heart J 2019; 40:3934-3936. [DOI: 10.1093/eurheartj/ehz548] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/23/2023] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo Ramos
- Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Ulrich Hofmann
- Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
| | - Stefan Frantz
- Department of Internal Medicine I, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Hospital Würzburg, Würzburg, Germany
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Ramos GC, van den Berg A, Nunes-Silva V, Weirather J, Peters L, Burkard M, Friedrich M, Pinnecker J, Abeßer M, Heinze KG, Schuh K, Beyersdorf N, Kerkau T, Demengeot J, Frantz S, Hofmann U. Myocardial aging as a T-cell-mediated phenomenon. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 114:E2420-E2429. [PMID: 28255084 PMCID: PMC5373357 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1621047114] [Citation(s) in RCA: 112] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
Abstract
In recent years, the myocardium has been rediscovered under the lenses of immunology, and lymphocytes have been implicated in the pathogenesis of cardiomyopathies with different etiologies. Aging is an important risk factor for heart diseases, and it also has impact on the immune system. Thus, we sought to determine whether immunological activity would influence myocardial structure and function in elderly mice. Morphological, functional, and molecular analyses revealed that the age-related myocardial impairment occurs in parallel with shifts in the composition of tissue-resident leukocytes and with an accumulation of activated CD4+ Foxp3- (forkhead box P3) IFN-γ+ T cells in the heart-draining lymph nodes. A comprehensive characterization of different aged immune-deficient mouse strains revealed that T cells significantly contribute to age-related myocardial inflammation and functional decline. Upon adoptive cell transfer, the T cells isolated from the mediastinal lymph node (med-LN) of aged animals exhibited increased cardiotropism, compared with cells purified from young donors or from other irrelevant sites. Nevertheless, these cells caused rather mild effects on cardiac functionality, indicating that myocardial aging might stem from a combination of intrinsic and extrinsic (immunological) factors. Taken together, the data herein presented indicate that heart-directed immune responses may spontaneously arise in the elderly, even in the absence of a clear tissue damage or concomitant infection. These observations might shed new light on the emerging role of T cells in myocardial diseases, which primarily affect the elderly population.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gustavo Campos Ramos
- Department of Internal Medicine III, University Clinic Halle, D-06120 Halle, Germany;
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Clinic Wuerzburg, D-97078 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Anne van den Berg
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Clinic Wuerzburg, D-97078 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | | | - Johannes Weirather
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Clinic Wuerzburg, D-97078 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Laura Peters
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Clinic Wuerzburg, D-97078 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Matthias Burkard
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Clinic Wuerzburg, D-97078 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Mike Friedrich
- Rudolf Virchow Center for Experimental Biomedicine, University of Wuerzburg, D-97080 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Jürgen Pinnecker
- Rudolf Virchow Center for Experimental Biomedicine, University of Wuerzburg, D-97080 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Marco Abeßer
- Institute of Physiology I, University of Wuerzburg, D-97070 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Katrin G Heinze
- Rudolf Virchow Center for Experimental Biomedicine, University of Wuerzburg, D-97080 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Kai Schuh
- Institute of Physiology I, University of Wuerzburg, D-97070 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Niklas Beyersdorf
- Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, University of Wuerzburg, D-97078 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Thomas Kerkau
- Institute for Virology and Immunobiology, University of Wuerzburg, D-97078 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | | | - Stefan Frantz
- Department of Internal Medicine III, University Clinic Halle, D-06120 Halle, Germany
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Clinic Wuerzburg, D-97078 Wuerzburg, Germany
| | - Ulrich Hofmann
- Department of Internal Medicine III, University Clinic Halle, D-06120 Halle, Germany
- Comprehensive Heart Failure Center, University Clinic Wuerzburg, D-97078 Wuerzburg, Germany
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Petenkova AA, Kovalenko RI, Nozdrachev AD. The role of nitric oxide in regulation of leukocyte migration into the heart tissue in vitro. DOKLADY BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES : PROCEEDINGS OF THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE USSR, BIOLOGICAL SCIENCES SECTIONS 2015; 465:296-298. [PMID: 26725240 DOI: 10.1134/s0012496615060022] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/08/2015] [Indexed: 06/05/2023]
Abstract
Characteristics of leukocyte migration have been studied during the incubation of the right and left ventricles of rat heart explants in autologous blood plasma. Within the first 60 min, the leukocyte amount in the medium increases. Moreover, it is associated with cell release from the heart tissue. During further incubation, the cell release decreases; after 3 h of incubation, the cells begin to migrate back into the heart tissue. However, neutrophil migration does not change. Sodium nitrite, being a donor of nitric oxide significantly, reduces the leukocyte migration from the heart explants into the incubation medium, especially from left ventricle explants.
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Affiliation(s)
- A A Petenkova
- St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
| | - R I Kovalenko
- St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia
| | - A D Nozdrachev
- St. Petersburg State University, St. Petersburg, 199034, Russia.
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Win TS, Rehakova S, Negus MC, Saeb-Parsy K, Goddard M, Conlon TM, Bolton EM, Bradley JA, Pettigrew GJ. Donor CD4 T cells contribute to cardiac allograft vasculopathy by providing help for autoantibody production. Circ Heart Fail 2009; 2:361-9. [PMID: 19808360 DOI: 10.1161/circheartfailure.108.827139] [Citation(s) in RCA: 42] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND The development of autoantibody after heart transplantation is increasingly associated with poor graft outcome, but what triggers its development and whether it has a direct causative role in graft rejection is not clear. Here, we study the development of antinuclear autoantibody in an established mouse model of heart allograft vasculopathy. METHODS AND RESULTS Humoral vascular changes, including endothelial complement staining, were present in bm12 heart grafts, explanted 50 days after transplantation. Alloantibody was not detectable, but long-lasting autoantibody responses developed in C57BL/6 recipients from the third week after transplantation. No autoantibody was generated if donor CD4 T cells were depleted before heart graft retrieval or in recipients that lacked B-cell major histocompatibility complex class II expression, indicating that humoral autoimmunity is a consequence of donor CD4 T-cell allorecognition of the major histocompatibility complex class II complex on recipient autoreactive B cells. An effector role for autoantibody in graft rejection was confirmed by abrogation of humoral vascular rejection, and attenuation of vasculopathy, in B-cell deficient recipients and by development of vascular obliteration and accelerated rejection in recipients primed for autoantibody before transplantation. CONCLUSIONS Passenger CD4 T cells within heart transplants can contribute to allograft vasculopathy by providing help to recipient B cells for autoantibody generation.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thet Su Win
- Department of Surgery, Addenbrooke's Hospital, Cambridge, UK
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Heart transplantation in Vienna: 25 years of experience. Wien Klin Wochenschr 2008. [DOI: 10.1007/s00508-008-1042-1] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/25/2022]
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Koch A, Feucht S, Helmke BM, Dengler TJ, Haass M, Sack FU, Karck M, Schnabel PA. Interstitial leukocytes in right ventricular endomyocardial biopsies after heart transplantation in patients with complicated versus uneventful postoperative course. Transplant Proc 2008; 40:947-50. [PMID: 18555086 DOI: 10.1016/j.transproceed.2008.03.035] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/30/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Infections and rejections play key roles in morbidity and mortality in the early postoperative period after orthotopic heart transplantation (HTX). The aim of this study was to evaluate whether qualitative and quantitative analyses of various interstitial leukocytes in endomyocardial biopsies during the first 2 weeks after HTX provided early information on these complications. PATIENTS AND METHODS During and after HTX, endomyocardial biopsies were obtained in 51 patients. By immunohistochemistry we determined the CD3-, CD4-, CD8-, CD15-, CD20-, CD57-, and CD68-positive cell numbers projected to planimetrically measured areas. To compare morbidity in the postoperative course, the patients were subdivided into complicated versus uncomplicated after 3 months. RESULTS In the uncomplicated group, the cell counts of CD3-, CD8-, CD57-, and CD68-positive cells were significantly lower than in the complicated group. CD3-, CD4-, and CD8-positive cell numbers showed a significant decrease in the first week among the uncomplicated group. In the complicated group, the cell counts increased significantly in the second week. The numbers of CD57-positive cells were significantly lower during the first and second weeks among the uncomplicated group. CONCLUSIONS Increased T lymphocytes, natural killer cells, and macrophages observed in the second week after HTX indicated increased morbidity. A reduction in CD3-positive cells in the first week indicated a low morbidity risk; an increase indicated a higher risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- A Koch
- Department of Cardiac Surgery, University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany.
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