Paying attention to the role of immunoinflammatory mechanisms in the diagnosis and treatment of ocular diseases / 中华实验眼科杂志

The immune and inflammatory response is a defense response of the body to stimuli and can be divided into infectious and non-infectious immunoinflammatory diseases.Current advances in research on immunoinflammatory in the eye focus on two main areas: research on targeted drugs or targeted molecular therapies for classical immunoinflammatory ocular diseases, and research on the immune mechanisms of previously considered non-immunoinflammatory ocular diseases.Key molecules of immunoinflammation in the pathogenesis of classical ocular immune diseases such as allergic conjunctivitis, immune keratopathy, non-infectious uveitis, optic neuritis, and thyroid-associated ophthalmopathy are important targets for biological therapy.Immunoinflammatory mechanisms have also been found to have an integral regulatory role in infectious ocular diseases and ocular tumors in recent years.More importantly, recent studies have revealed that immunity also plays an important role in the promotion of traditionally considered non-immunoinflammatory ocular diseases such as myopia, glaucoma, cataract, and age-related macular degeneration.Thus, immunoinflammation is widely involved in the development of diseases from the anterior to the posterior segment of the eye, and research related to the immunotherapy of related ocular diseases through the modulation of immunoinflammation has attracted the attention of the global ophthalmic community.Ophthalmologists should pay attention to the mechanisms of immune modulation and the progress of immunotherapy in various ophthalmic diseases, and explore new strategies for better guidelines for the treatment of ocular immunoinflammatory diseases.

New paradigms of immune regulation in glaucoma during the whole clinical process / 中华实验眼科杂志

Glaucoma is an irreversible blinding eye disease caused by the structural and functional damage of optic nerve induced by pathological increase of intraocular pressure (IOP), characterized by multiple causes and strong heterogeneity.The control of IOP to reduce the risk of optic damage has been the main therapeutic strategy of glaucoma for many years.However, in clinical experience, some patients show progress of optic nerve damage despite the effectively controlled IOP, the mechanism of non-IOP-dependent secondary damage is still an urgent problem to be solved and a research hotspot in the pathogenesis of glaucoma.With the continuous innovation of molecular biological technology, breakthroughs have been made in the field of basic research.Partial visual recovery can be boosted by alleviating local immune and inflammatory responses.Due to a lack of symbolic clinical application results, it has become an immediate priority to attach importance to the combination of basic clinical research and facilitate the transformation of results.Starting from the theory of glaucoma-immune inflammation, understanding the importance of the immune homeostasis of eyes, paying close attention to the linkage of eyes and brain in physiopathological process and the progression of diseases in the whole visual pathway, and fully understanding and effectively making good use of the opportunities and implications brought by new techniques will have significant effect in formulating clinical diagnosis and treatment plans.

Aging weakens Th17 cell pathogenicity and ameliorates experimental autoimmune uveitis in mice

Aging-induced changes in the immune system are associated with a higher incidence of infection and vaccination failure. Lymph nodes, which filter the lymph to identify and fight infections, play a central role in this process. However, careful characterization of the impact of aging on lymph nodes and associated autoimmune diseases is lacking. We combined single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) with flow cytometry to delineate the immune cell atlas of cervical draining lymph nodes (CDLNs) of both young and old mice with or without experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU). We found extensive and complicated changes in the cellular constituents of CDLNs during aging. When confronted with autoimmune challenges, old mice developed milder EAU compared to young mice. Within this EAU process, we highlighted that the pathogenicity of T helper 17 cells (Th17) was dampened, as shown by reduced GM-CSF secretion in old mice. The mitigated secretion of GM-CSF contributed to alleviation of IL-23 secretion by antigen-presenting cells (APCs) and may, in turn, weaken APCs' effects on facilitating the pathogenicity of Th17 cells. Meanwhile, our study further unveiled that aging downregulated GM-CSF secretion through reducing both the transcript and protein levels of IL-23R in Th17 cells from CDLNs. Overall, aging altered immune cell responses, especially through toning down Th17 cells, counteracting EAU challenge in old mice.

A human circulating immune cell landscape in aging and COVID-19

Age-associated changes in immune cells have been linked to an increased risk for infection. However, a global and detailed characterization of the changes that human circulating immune cells undergo with age is lacking. Here, we combined scRNA-seq, mass cytometry and scATAC-seq to compare immune cell types in peripheral blood collected from young and old subjects and patients with COVID-19. We found that the immune cell landscape was reprogrammed with age and was characterized by T cell polarization from naive and memory cells to effector, cytotoxic, exhausted and regulatory cells, along with increased late natural killer cells, age-associated B cells, inflammatory monocytes and age-associated dendritic cells. In addition, the expression of genes, which were implicated in coronavirus susceptibility, was upregulated in a cell subtype-specific manner with age. Notably, COVID-19 promoted age-induced immune cell polarization and gene expression related to inflammation and cellular senescence. Therefore, these findings suggest that a dysregulated immune system and increased gene expression associated with SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility may at least partially account for COVID-19 vulnerability in the elderly.

A human circulating immune cell landscape in aging and COVID-19

Age-associated changes in immune cells have been linked to an increased risk for infection. However, a global and detailed characterization of the changes that human circulating immune cells undergo with age is lacking. Here, we combined scRNA-seq, mass cytometry and scATAC-seq to compare immune cell types in peripheral blood collected from young and old subjects and patients with COVID-19. We found that the immune cell landscape was reprogrammed with age and was characterized by T cell polarization from naive and memory cells to effector, cytotoxic, exhausted and regulatory cells, along with increased late natural killer cells, age-associated B cells, inflammatory monocytes and age-associated dendritic cells. In addition, the expression of genes, which were implicated in coronavirus susceptibility, was upregulated in a cell subtype-specific manner with age. Notably, COVID-19 promoted age-induced immune cell polarization and gene expression related to inflammation and cellular senescence. Therefore, these findings suggest that a dysregulated immune system and increased gene expression associated with SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility may at least partially account for COVID-19 vulnerability in the elderly.

A human circulating immune cell landscape in aging and COVID-19

Age-associated changes in immune cells have been linked to an increased risk for infection. However, a global and detailed characterization of the changes that human circulating immune cells undergo with age is lacking. Here, we combined scRNA-seq, mass cytometry and scATAC-seq to compare immune cell types in peripheral blood collected from young and old subjects and patients with COVID-19. We found that the immune cell landscape was reprogrammed with age and was characterized by T cell polarization from naive and memory cells to effector, cytotoxic, exhausted and regulatory cells, along with increased late natural killer cells, age-associated B cells, inflammatory monocytes and age-associated dendritic cells. In addition, the expression of genes, which were implicated in coronavirus susceptibility, was upregulated in a cell subtype-specific manner with age. Notably, COVID-19 promoted age-induced immune cell polarization and gene expression related to inflammation and cellular senescence. Therefore, these findings suggest that a dysregulated immune system and increased gene expression associated with SARS-CoV-2 susceptibility may at least partially account for COVID-19 vulnerability in the elderly.