Cutting Edge
Cutting Edge Session
Tuesday, September 19th, 2023, at 3:30 pm
Chairs: Bertram Bengsch & Henrik Mei
Cutting edge cytometric technologies are at the forefront of technological R&D in single cell sciences. New concepts continuously emerge, and many of these will shape the way of future routines in cell analysis. This years programme features mass cytometry is a relatively new hybrid technology for generating high-dimensional single cell data. Emerging from single-cell analysis of cell suspensions with the help of metal isotope conjugated antibodies and a mass spectrometric readout adopted from trace element analysis, it today is often used for creating high resolution multiplexed imaging data of tissue sections, giving rise to multiple partly commercially available imaging platforms undergoing further development. In hindsight, mass cytometry is the disruptive technology that not only pioneered highly multiplexed single cell analysis but also stimulated the further advancement of fluorescence-based technologies, and the adoption of bioinformatics tools to analyze the new wealth of data. Mass cytometry remains a thrilling field of active interdisciplinary innovation with involvement of chemistry, mass spectrometry, flow cytometry, imaging and bioinformartics. The cutting edge: mass cytometry sessions features speakers with excellent contributions to wet lab and data analysis workflows in mass cytometry and imaging mass cytometry, and showcases exemplary applications in stem cell research and translational immunology.

Through the lens of CyTOF: resolving signatures of muscle stem cell aging one cell at the time
Affiliation
Aarhus University, Department of Biomedicine, Aarhus, 8000, Denmark
Baxter Laboratory for Stem Cell Biology,
Stanford University School of Medicine; Stanford, USA
Abstract
Skeletal muscle mass, strength and regenerative capacity progressively decline with aging. This is partly due to functional impairment of muscle stem cells (MuSCs), the key players in muscle regeneration. However, the mechanisms responsible for ageassociated MuSC dysfunction remain elusive. A major barrier to gaining mechanistic insights into MuSC aging is the increased functional heterogeneity of the aged MuSC population, underscoring the need for single-cell studies. Here we capitalized on singlecell mass cytometry to resolve MuSC heterogeneity during aging and identified a dysfunctional MuSC subset, marked by high CD47 surface expression (CD47hi). Mechanistically, increased expression of U1 snRNA in aged MuSCs shifted the balance of CD47 mRNA isoforms, leading to increased levels of CD47 protein on the cell surface.Aged CD47hi MuSCs act via paracrine signaling, through secretion of thrombospondin-1,<a ligand for CD47, to suppress the regenerative capacity of CD47lo MuSCs. Strikingly, in vivo thrombospondin-1 blockade restored the proliferative potential of aged MuSCs and enhanced muscle regeneration and strength in aged mice. These findings uncover an unexpected role for thrombospondin-1/CD47 signaling in aged MuSCs and suggest a novel therapeutic approach to improve muscle regenerative function in the elderly.
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Dr. Ermelinda Porpiglia is a tenure-track Assistant Professor at Aarhus University, Denmark, and an Associate Fellow at the Aarhus Institute of Advanced Studies (AIAS). Her research interest is to understand how aging impairs tissue regeneration. During her postdoctoral training at Stanford University, she pioneered the application of single-cell mass cytometry (CyTOF) to skeletal muscle, to identify rare stem cell populations that accumulate during aging and understand howthey affect muscle regeneration.Her laboratory at Aarhus University, employs novel single-cell technologies, such as single-cell masscytometry (CyTOF) and imaging mass cytometry, to map stem cell niche dynamics at single cell resolution and study the relationships between muscle stem cells and immune cells in skeletal muscle, in the context of aging and muscle diseases. Her long-term research goal is to develop therapeutic strategies to modulate the immune system in order to boost muscle tissue repair. Dr. Porpiglia’s research has been published in top scientific journals, including Nature Medicine, Nature Cell Biology and Cell Stem Cell. She holds a BS/MS degree in Medical Biotechnology from the University of Bologna Medical School, Italy, and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Sciences from the University of Massachusetts Medical School, USA. Dr. Porpiglia completed her postdoctoral training in the Blau lab at Stanford University, where she established a long-standing collaboration with the Nolan lab.

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