Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: An Artificial Intelligence-guided signature reveals the shared host immune response in MIS-C and Kawasaki disease

doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30357-w

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Schematic displays the computational approach (BECC) and rigor (diversity and number of datasets) used to identify the 166-gene ViP and a subset of 20-gene severe (s)ViP signatures, and the subsequent experimentally validated inferences and impact of the same in a recent study . The numbers in gray circles denote the total number of datasets analyzed in each category. b Schematic displays the various pathogenic triggers that induce ViP signatures (many of which are triggers also for KD) and the prominent induction of IL15/IL15RA as an invariant nature of the cytokine storm. c Bubble plots of ROC-AUC values (radii of circles are based on the ROC-AUC) demonstrating the strength of classification and the direction of gene regulation (Up, red; Down, blue) for the classification based on the 20-gene severe ViP signature (top) and 166-gene ViP signature (bottom) in numerous publicly available historic datasets. ViP signatures classified KD vs. healthy children (left), acute vs. convalescent KD (middle) and treatment response in the setting of combination therapy with IV steroids (MP methylprednisone) and IV IgG alone (IVIG), but not IVIG alone. Numbers on top of bubble plots indicate number of subjects in each comparison group. d , e Bar (top) and violin (bottom) plots display the classification of blood samples that were collected during acute (AV), sub-acute (SA; ~10–14 days post-discharge) and convalescent (CV; 1 year post-onset) visits from two independent KD cohorts ( d ; Historic Cohort 1; e ; Prospective Cohort 2) using ViP (left) or sViP (right) signatures. f Bar (top) and violin (bottom) plots display the sub-classification of blood samples in Cohort 1 based on coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) status using ViP (left) or sViP (right) signatures. Welch’s two sample unpaired two-sided t -test is performed on the composite gene signature score to compute the p values. In multi-group setting each group is compared to the first control group and only significant p values are displayed on the right. Additional pvalues are displayed on the left.

Article Snippet: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded heart tissue sections from COVID19 and KD patients were stained anti-human IL15 receptor A polyclonal antibody (11:200 dilution; proteintech ® , Rosemont, IL, USA; catalog# 16744-1-AP) and anti-human IL15 monoclonal antibody (1:10 dilution; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Dallas, TX, USA; catalog# sc-8437) after heat-induced antigen retrieval with Tris buffer containing EDTA (pH 9.0).

Techniques: Comparison, Control

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: An Artificial Intelligence-guided signature reveals the shared host immune response in MIS-C and Kawasaki disease

doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30357-w

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Schematic displays the workflow for patient blood collection and analysis by RNA Seq (this figure) and cytokine array by mesoscale (Figs. and ). b , c Bar (top) and violin (bottom) plots display the classification of blood samples that were collected during collected during acute (AV) and sub-acute (SA; ~10–14 days post-discharge) visits of KD subjects and from patients diagnosed with MIS-C. The p value for comparison between acute KD (AV) and MIS-C (M) is displayed in red font. d , e Heatmaps display the patterns of expression of the 166 genes in ViP ( d ) and 20 gene sViP (e) signatures in the KD and MIS-C samples. The only cytokine–receptor pair within the signature, i.e., IL15/IL15RA , are highlighted on the left in red font in ( d ). f Schematic displays the 13-transcript whole blood signature (no overlaps with ViP signature genes) previously demonstrated to distinguish KD from other childhood febrile illnesses . g and h Bar (top) and violin (bottom) plots display the classification of blood samples that were collected during acute (AV) and convalescent (CV) visits from two independent KD cohorts ( g ; Historic Cohort 1 ; e ; Prospective Cohort 2) using 13-transcript KD signature. FC, febrile control. See also Supplementary Fig. for co-dependence analysis of ViP and KD-13 signatures. Welch’s two sample unpaired two-sided t -test is performed on the composite gene signature score to compute the p values. In multi-group setting each group is compared to the first control group and only significant p values are displayed. The p value for comparison between acute KD (AV) and MIS-C (M) is displayed in red font.

Article Snippet: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded heart tissue sections from COVID19 and KD patients were stained anti-human IL15 receptor A polyclonal antibody (11:200 dilution; proteintech ® , Rosemont, IL, USA; catalog# 16744-1-AP) and anti-human IL15 monoclonal antibody (1:10 dilution; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Dallas, TX, USA; catalog# sc-8437) after heat-induced antigen retrieval with Tris buffer containing EDTA (pH 9.0).

Techniques: RNA Sequencing, Comparison, Expressing, Control

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: An Artificial Intelligence-guided signature reveals the shared host immune response in MIS-C and Kawasaki disease

doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30357-w

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Heatmap displays the results of unsupervised clustering of sub-acute and acute KD (KD-SA, KD-AV; n = 10 each) and MIS-C ( n = 10) subjects using the cytokine profiles determined by mesoscale (MSD). Red = cytokines differentially expressed between MIS-C and KD. See also Supplementary Fig. for violin plots for individual cytokines. b Source data are provided as a Supplementary Data . Violin plots display the shared (top panels; IL15, MIP1a, IL2, IL6 and VEGF) and distinct (bottom panels; IFNγ, IL1β, IL8, IL10, and TNFα) features of the cytokine storm in MIS-C vs. KD subjects. Statistical significance was determined by one-way ANOVA followed by Tukey’s test for multiple comparisons. c Schematic shows the process used to integrate serum cytokine array results with whole blood RNA Seq data; cytokines that were differentially expressed in MIS-C were used to inform GSEA of the corresponding pathways. d – f Gene set enrichment analysis (GSEA pre-ranked analysis) of three pathways derived from MSigDB: SANA TNF SIGNALING UP ( d ), TIAN TNF SIGNALING VIA NFkB ( e ), and SANA RESPONSE TO IFNG UP ( f ) demonstrate the significance of TNF ( d , e ) and IFNG ( f ) pathway activation in MIS-C. g , h Down-regulated genes after IL1B ( g ) and IL10 ( h ) stimulation were derived from differential expression analysis of GSE44722 ( n = 269 genes), and GSE61298 ( n = 208 genes) respectively. GSEA pre-ranked analysis to test the significance of IL1B and IL10 pathway is performed like panels d – f using the down-regulated genes. GSEA pre-ranked analysis computes nominal pvalue and FDR using an empirical phenotype-based permutation test procedure. No adjustments were made for multiple comparisons because of single hypothesis testing. Source data are provided as a Source Data file.

Article Snippet: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded heart tissue sections from COVID19 and KD patients were stained anti-human IL15 receptor A polyclonal antibody (11:200 dilution; proteintech ® , Rosemont, IL, USA; catalog# 16744-1-AP) and anti-human IL15 monoclonal antibody (1:10 dilution; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Dallas, TX, USA; catalog# sc-8437) after heat-induced antigen retrieval with Tris buffer containing EDTA (pH 9.0).

Techniques: RNA Sequencing, Derivative Assay, Activation Assay, Quantitative Proteomics

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: An Artificial Intelligence-guided signature reveals the shared host immune response in MIS-C and Kawasaki disease

doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30357-w

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Heatmap displays the results of hierarchical agglomerative clustering of acute KD (KD-AV; n = 10) and MIS-C ( n = 10) subjects using the cytokine profiles determined by mesoscale (MSD) and the laboratory features. Source data are provided as a Source Data file. b Violin plots display PLT (platelet) and AEC (absolute eosinophil counts) in KD and MIS-C (unpaired two-sided Student’s t -test used to test significance). c – e Correlation test (two-sided test of the slope of the regression line compared to zero) between AEC and PLT ( c ; left) and IL15 and PLT ( c ; right), and MIP1α and PLT ( d ) and MIP1α and IL15 ( e ) are shown, and significance was calculated and displayed using GraphPad Prism 9. Significance: ns: non-significant, **** p < 0.0001. See Supplementary Fig. for all possible correlation tests between clinical and cytokine data in KD, MIS-C and COVID-19. f Correlation tests between PLT (left) or AEC (right) on the Y -axis and gene signature scores on the X -axis [either ViP (top), sViP (middle) or a IL15/IL15RA composite (bottom)] were calculated and displayed as scatter plots using python seaborn lmplots with the p -values. The confidence interval around the regression line is indicated with shades. g Schematic summarizing the findings in MIS-C based on laboratory and RNA seq analysis.

Article Snippet: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded heart tissue sections from COVID19 and KD patients were stained anti-human IL15 receptor A polyclonal antibody (11:200 dilution; proteintech ® , Rosemont, IL, USA; catalog# 16744-1-AP) and anti-human IL15 monoclonal antibody (1:10 dilution; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Dallas, TX, USA; catalog# sc-8437) after heat-induced antigen retrieval with Tris buffer containing EDTA (pH 9.0).

Techniques: RNA Sequencing

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: An Artificial Intelligence-guided signature reveals the shared host immune response in MIS-C and Kawasaki disease

doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30357-w

Figure Lengend Snippet: a – c Severe (s)ViP signature can classify severe MIS-C based on in two independent studies ( GSE166489 and GSE167028 ). Schematic in a summarizes the definition of severe MIS-C. b , c Classification of blood samples in two cohorts of MIS-C subjects, based on the need for ICU management due to the presence (MYO+) or recovery in the absence (R or MYO−) of myocardial dysfunction using sViP signature. Welch’s two sample unpaired two-sided t -test is performed to compute the p values. d Bubble plots of ROC-AUC values (radii of circles are based on the ROC-AUC) and the direction of gene regulation (Up, red; Down, blue) in publicly available datasets using 4 gene signatures: the 166-gene ViP signature, the 20-gene sViP signature, the KD-13 signature, and finally the IL15/IL15RA composite score. Numbers on top of bubble plots indicate number ( n ) of control vs. disease samples in each dataset. Abbreviations: PBMCs peripheral blood mononuclear cells, Mac macrophages, WB whole blood, MTb M. tubercutosis , Flu Influenza, HIV human immunodeficiency virus, RSV respiratory syncytial virus, JM juvenile myositis, sjia systemic juvenile idiopathic arthritis, SLE systemic lupus erythematosus, IBD Inflammatory bowel disease, COPD chronic obstructive pulmonary disesase, JDM juvenile dermatomyositis, MS multiple sclerosis, BAL bronchoalveolar lavage, NOMID neonatal onset multisystem inflammatory disease, MAS macrophage activation syndrome, NLRC4 NLR Family CARD Domain Containing 4. e Schematic showing the experimental design for studying differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in between KD and MIS-C subjects. f , g PCA ( f ) and a clustered heatmap analysis ( g ) of KD (green, f ) and MIS-C (orange, f ) samples are shown based on top 2242 genes according to mean absolute deviation identified using StepMiner algorithm . Source data are provided. h Reactome pathway analysis of the DEGs between seven KD and seven MIS-C subjects in f (marked on the PCA). i Venn diagram between 166-gene ViP signature against the DEGs. Number of genes are indicated for each group in the Venn diagram. 11 overlapping genes between ViP signature and up-regulated in MIS-C are listed at the top.

Article Snippet: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded heart tissue sections from COVID19 and KD patients were stained anti-human IL15 receptor A polyclonal antibody (11:200 dilution; proteintech ® , Rosemont, IL, USA; catalog# 16744-1-AP) and anti-human IL15 monoclonal antibody (1:10 dilution; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Dallas, TX, USA; catalog# sc-8437) after heat-induced antigen retrieval with Tris buffer containing EDTA (pH 9.0).

Techniques: Control, Virus, Activation Assay

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: An Artificial Intelligence-guided signature reveals the shared host immune response in MIS-C and Kawasaki disease

doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30357-w

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Violin plots display the left ventricular ejection functions (LVEF) in KD and MIS-C patients. Statistical significance was determined by unpaired two-sided Student’s t -test. b – d Correlation tests (two-sided test of the slope of the regression line compared to zero) between LVEF ( Y -axis) and gene signature scores on the X -axis [either ViP ( b ), sViP ( c ), or a IL15/IL15RA composite ( d )] are displayed as a scatter plot and significance was calculated and displayed as in Fig. f. The confidence interval around the regression line is indicated with shades. e Bar and violin plots show how a IL15/IL15RA compositive score varies between KD samples. The score classifies KD-AV with giant CAAs from control (KD-CV) samples with a ROC AUC 0.95. Welch’s two sample unpaired two-sided t -test is performed on the composite gene signature score to compute the p values. In multi-group setting each group is compared to the first control group and only significant p values are displayed.

Article Snippet: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded heart tissue sections from COVID19 and KD patients were stained anti-human IL15 receptor A polyclonal antibody (11:200 dilution; proteintech ® , Rosemont, IL, USA; catalog# 16744-1-AP) and anti-human IL15 monoclonal antibody (1:10 dilution; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Dallas, TX, USA; catalog# sc-8437) after heat-induced antigen retrieval with Tris buffer containing EDTA (pH 9.0).

Techniques: Control

Journal: Nature Communications

Article Title: An Artificial Intelligence-guided signature reveals the shared host immune response in MIS-C and Kawasaki disease

doi: 10.1038/s41467-022-30357-w

Figure Lengend Snippet: a Summary of datasets used (publicly available prior ones and new original cohorts) to support the conclusions in this work. Numbers in circles denote the number of subjects in each cohort. b Venn diagram displays the major findings from the current work. ViP/sViP signatures, and more specifically, the IL15/IL15RA specific gene induction are shared between patients in all three diagnostic groups. While these signatures are known to be associated with diffuse alveolar damage in the lungs of patients with COVID-19 , it is associated with CAA in KD and with reduction in cardiac muscle contractility in MIS-C. Overlapping features between each entity are displayed.

Article Snippet: Formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded heart tissue sections from COVID19 and KD patients were stained anti-human IL15 receptor A polyclonal antibody (11:200 dilution; proteintech ® , Rosemont, IL, USA; catalog# 16744-1-AP) and anti-human IL15 monoclonal antibody (1:10 dilution; Santa Cruz Biotechnology, Inc., Dallas, TX, USA; catalog# sc-8437) after heat-induced antigen retrieval with Tris buffer containing EDTA (pH 9.0).

Techniques: Diagnostic Assay

Journal: Journal of Translational Medicine

Article Title: Co-expression IL-15 receptor alpha with IL-15 reduces toxicity via limiting IL-15 systemic exposure during CAR-T immunotherapy

doi: 10.1186/s12967-022-03626-x

Figure Lengend Snippet: CD19 specific armored CAR-T cells are developed. A Schematic diagram of third different CD19 specific CARs. It consists of the third generation CD19-CAR, P2A, IL-15 and IL-15Ra. B Flow cytometry was used to detect the expression of CD19 specific CARs by using goat anti-mouse IgG (Fab specific). C Total RNA was extracted from different CD19-CAR-T cells to detect the relative expression of IL-15, IL-15Ra via PCR. D Total proteins were extracted from different CD19-CAR-T cells to detect the expression of IL-15Ra. SD, splice donor; SA, splice acceptor. NT, non-transduced

Article Snippet: The cDNAs of IL-15 (HG10360-M) and IL-15Ra (HG18366-G) were purchased from Sino Biological.

Techniques: Flow Cytometry, Expressing

Journal: Journal of Translational Medicine

Article Title: Co-expression IL-15 receptor alpha with IL-15 reduces toxicity via limiting IL-15 systemic exposure during CAR-T immunotherapy

doi: 10.1186/s12967-022-03626-x

Figure Lengend Snippet: IL-15Ra reduces the IL-15-induced toxicity in vitro. A CAR-T cells were co-cultured with NALM-6-eGFP (2:1) for 24 h. The supernatant was collected to detect the concentration of IL-15 via ELISA. B CAR-T cells were co-cultured with NALM-6-eGFP (10:1) for 7 days, the expression of CD132 on the cell surface was detected using flow cytometry. C CAR-T cells were co-cultured with NALM-6-eGFP cells (2:1) in 24-well plate for 24 h. Flow cytometry was used to detect the live NALM-6-eGFP. D CAR-T cells were co-cultured with NALM-6-eGFP cells (2:1) in 96-well plate for 24 h. Luciferase activity was used to determine the tumor cell viability. Left panel shows the picture obtained from IVIS imaging system, right panel shows the statistical analysis. Control represents NALM-6-eGFP cells. Results were analyzed by student’s t -test followed by parametric test. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001

Article Snippet: The cDNAs of IL-15 (HG10360-M) and IL-15Ra (HG18366-G) were purchased from Sino Biological.

Techniques: In Vitro, Cell Culture, Concentration Assay, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, Expressing, Flow Cytometry, Luciferase, Activity Assay, Imaging, Control

Journal: Journal of Translational Medicine

Article Title: Co-expression IL-15 receptor alpha with IL-15 reduces toxicity via limiting IL-15 systemic exposure during CAR-T immunotherapy

doi: 10.1186/s12967-022-03626-x

Figure Lengend Snippet: IL-15 armored CAR-T cells expressed with IL-15Ra exhibit enhanced anti-tumor activity and reduced toxicity in vivo. A Schematic diagram of mouse experimental processes. 1 × 10 6 NALM-6-eGFP cells were injected into NOD-SCID mice intravenously to construct the xenograft mouse model. One days after tumor cell injection, 1 × 10 7 CAR-T cells (2 × 10 6 CAR positive cells) were injected into tail vein once a day for 3 days. Tumor development was monitored using IVIS. B, C Quantitative bioluminescence (radiance = photons/cm 2 /sr) imaging data for all mice are shown. Statistic analysis of quantitative bioluminescence of day 34 is shown. D Overall survival rates of mice with NALM-6-eGFP xenografts are shown. E Livers from CAR-T treated mice were collected to stain hematoxylin and eosin. Yellow arrow shows the numerous of infiltrated neutrophils, the black arrow shows the area of necrotic lesions. Right panel shows the GVHD scores of the livers. F Sera from mice were extracted and the concentrations of human IL-15 were measured using ELISA. Results were analyzed by student’s t -test followed by parametric test or Mann–Whitney test. The survival curve was analyzed using Mantel-Cox test. * p < 0.05; ** p < 0.01; *** p < 0.001; n.s., not significant

Article Snippet: The cDNAs of IL-15 (HG10360-M) and IL-15Ra (HG18366-G) were purchased from Sino Biological.

Techniques: Activity Assay, In Vivo, Injection, Construct, Imaging, Staining, Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay, MANN-WHITNEY