A spatially restricted fibrotic niche in pulmonary fibrosis is sustained by M-CSF/M-CSFR signaling in monocyte-derived alveolar macrophages

Pulmonary fibrosis is a heterogenous syndrome in which fibrotic scar replaces normal lung tissue. We performed single-cell RNA-seq on the lungs from mice exposed to fibrogenic particle (asbestos) and non-fibrogenic particle (TiO2) 14 days after the exposure to dissect cellular interactions unfolding during the early stages of the pulmonary fibrosis. Overall design: Three months-old C57Bl/6 male mice were exposed to abestos or TiO2 (intratracheally) and 14 days later single cell suspension was prepared and single-cell RNA-seq libraries were generated using 3' V2 chemistry kit on Chromium Single cell controller (10x Genomics).

肺纤维化（Pulmonary fibrosis）是一类异质性综合征，其核心病理特征为纤维化瘢痕取代正常肺组织。本研究对暴露于致纤维化颗粒（石棉，asbestos）与非致纤维化颗粒（二氧化钛，TiO2）14天后的小鼠肺部开展单细胞RNA测序（single-cell RNA-seq），以解析肺纤维化早期阶段中动态展开的细胞互作过程。

实验设计：选取3月龄的C57Bl/6雄性小鼠，经气管内滴注法暴露于石棉或TiO2；造模14天后制备单细胞悬液，并依托10x Genomics公司的Chromium单细胞控制器（Chromium Single cell controller）及3' V2化学试剂盒构建单细胞RNA测序文库。