scRNA-seq analysis of biopsy tissue from Interstitial Lung Disease patients who took EGCG

Trihydroxyphenolic compounds, such as Epigallocatechin Gallate (EGCG), cause fibroblast-specific TGFb1 receptor kinase and lysyl oxidase like 2 (LOXL2) inhibition, reducing fibroblast activation and collagen cross-linking in fibrotic mice lungs and in cultured human precision cut lung slices (PCLS) derived from Interstitial Lung Disease (ILD) / Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) patients. When taken for two weeks, EGCG reduced protein markers of pro-fibrotic signaling in spare tissue from diagnostic surgical biopsies from ILD patients. Here, we report the result of single-cell RNA sequencing on lung tissue from ILD patients who took EGCG (600mg by mouth daily) for two weeks prior to diagnostic surgical biopsy and donated spare tissue and from control/untreated biopsy samples, including comparison to normal donor and end-stage ILD explant lung tissues. Overall design: scRNA-seq was performed on spare biopsy tissue from four fibrotic lung disease patients who took EGCG (600mg by mouth daily) prior to diagnostic surgical lung biopsy, four fibrotic lung disease control biopsies, tissue from one normal/healthy donor lung, and one end-stage IPF explant lung. Following tissue digestion with dispase and collagenase, flow cytometry was performed for live epithelial (EPCAM+/CD45-/CD31-) and mesenchymal (EPCAM-/CD45-/CD31-) cells, which were combined 1:1 for scRNA-seq.