C

Cheng Song

University of Alabama at Birmingham

ORCID: 0000-0001-9541-8909

Publishes on Genetic and Kidney Cyst Diseases, Renal and related cancers, Alzheimer's disease research and treatments. 47 papers and 1.8k citations.

47Publications
1.8kTotal Citations

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Top publicationsby citations

Single-Cell RNA Sequencing Identifies Candidate Renal Resident Macrophage Gene Expression Signatures across Species
Kurt A. Zimmerman, Melissa R. Bentley‐Ford, Jeremie M. Lever et al.|Journal of the American Society of Nephrology|2019
Cited by 188Open Access

Significance Statement Despite abundant research focused on understanding the importance of mouse renal resident macrophages in homeostatic and disease settings, these findings have unknown relevance to higher-order species, including humans, because markers to identify a similar population of cells across species are lacking. This hinders translating data obtained in animal model systems to human patients. In this study, the authors used a single-cell RNA sequencing approach, followed by validation using flow cytometry, to identify novel markers of mouse resident macrophages and show that these markers also identify a population of macrophages in rat, pig, and human kidney tissue. Over all, their findings serve as an entry point to study candidate kidney resident macrophages across species. Background Resident macrophages regulate homeostatic and disease processes in multiple tissues, including the kidney. Despite having well defined markers to identify these cells in mice, technical limitations have prevented identification of a similar cell type across species. The inability to identify resident macrophage populations across species hinders the translation of data obtained from animal model to human patients. Methods As an entry point to determine novel markers that could identify resident macrophages across species, we performed single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNAseq) analysis of all T and B cell–negative CD45 + innate immune cells in mouse, rat, pig, and human kidney tissue. Results We identified genes with enriched expression in mouse renal resident macrophages that were also present in candidate resident macrophage populations across species. Using the scRNAseq data, we defined a novel set of possible cell surface markers (Cd74 and Cd81) for these candidate kidney resident macrophages. We confirmed, using parabiosis and flow cytometry, that these proteins are indeed enriched in mouse resident macrophages. Flow cytometry data also indicated the existence of a defined population of innate immune cells in rat and human kidney tissue that coexpress CD74 and CD81, suggesting the presence of renal resident macrophages in multiple species. Conclusions Based on transcriptional signatures, our data indicate that there is a conserved population of innate immune cells across multiple species that have been defined as resident macrophages in the mouse. Further, we identified potential cell surface markers to allow for future identification and characterization of this candidate resident macrophage population in mouse, rat, and pig translational studies.

Colocalization and Interaction of the Porcine Arterivirus Nucleocapsid Protein with the Small Nucleolar RNA-Associated Protein Fibrillarin
Dongwan Yoo, Sarah K. Wootton, Gang Li et al.|Journal of Virology|2003
Cited by 116Open Access

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) replicates in the cytoplasm of infected cells, but its nucleocapsid (N) protein localizes specifically to the nucleus and nucleolus. The mechanism of nuclear translocation and whether N associates with particular nucleolar components are unknown. In the present study, we show by confocal microscopy that the PRRSV N protein colocalizes with the small nucleolar RNA (snoRNA)-associated protein fibrillarin. Direct and specific interaction of N with fibrillarin was demonstrated in vivo by the mammalian two-hybrid assay in cells cotransfected with the N and fibrillarin genes and in vitro by the glutathione S-transferase pull-down assay using the expressed fibrillarin protein. Using a series of deletion mutants, the interactive domain of N with fibrillarin was mapped to a region of amino acids 30 to 37. For fibrillarin, the first 80 amino acids, which contain the glycine-arginine-rich region (the GAR domain), was determined to be the domain interactive with N. The N protein was able to bind to the full-length genomic RNA of PRRSV, and the RNA binding domain was identified as the region overlapping with the nuclear localization signal situated at positions 41 to 47. These results suggest that the N protein nuclear transport may be controlled by the binding of RNA to N. The PRRSV N protein was also able to bind to both 28S and 18S ribosomal RNAs. The protein-protein interaction between N and fibrillarin was RNA dependent but independent of N protein phosphorylation. Taken together, our studies demonstrate a specific interaction of the PRRSV nucleocapsid protein with the host cell protein fibrillarin in the nucleolus, and they imply a potential linkage of viral strategies for the modulation of host cell functions, possibly through rRNA precursor processing and ribosome biogenesis.