Cited by 75Single-cell and spatial transcriptomicsNeuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration MechanismsAlzheimer's disease research and treatments

Dissecting the human leptomeninges at single-cell resolution

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Kearns, Nicola A., Iatrou, Artemis, Flood, Daniel J., De Tissera, Sashini, Mullaney, Zachary M., Xu, Jishu, Gaiteri, Chris, Bennett, David A. +1 more·2023·Nature Communications

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Abstract

Emerging evidence shows that the meninges conduct essential immune surveillance and immune defense at the brain border, and the dysfunction of meningeal immunity contributes to aging and neurodegeneration. However, no study exists on the molecular properties of cell types within human leptomeninges. Here, we provide single nuclei profiling of dissected postmortem leptomeninges from aged individuals. We detect diverse cell types, including unique meningeal endothelial, mural, and fibroblast subtypes. For immune cells, we show that most T cells express CD8 and bear characteristics of tissue-resident memory T cells. We also identify distinct subtypes of border-associated macrophages (BAMs) that display differential gene expressions from microglia and express risk genes for Alzheimer's Disease (AD), as nominated by genome-wide association studies (GWAS). We discover cell-type-specific differentially expressed genes in individuals with Alzheimer's dementia, particularly in fibroblasts and BAMs. Indeed, when cultured, leptomeningeal cells display the signature of ex vivo AD fibroblasts upon amyloid-β treatment. We further explore ligand-receptor interactions within the leptomeningeal niche and computationally infer intercellular communications in AD. Thus, our study establishes a molecular map of human leptomeningeal cell types, providing significant insight into the border immune and fibrotic responses in AD.

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  • CAMs clear harmful substances through phagocytosis, antigen presentation, and cytokine production.

    “As immune surveillants, CAMs clear harmful substances through phagocytosis, antigen presentation, and cytokine production [364,368,371,372,373,374,375,376]”

    From Revisiting the Pathogenesis of X-Linked Adrenoleukodystrophy (2025) · cites this paper as [373]

    The Discussion (page not available) says border-associated macrophages (BAMs) contribute to border immunity and that mouse studies suggest a role in vascular amyloid-β clearance. It does not establish that CAMs clear harmful substances through phagocytosis, antigen presentation, and cytokine production; its mentions of antigen-presenting cells and cytokine-related genes do not demonstrate those clearance mechanisms. (LLM, conf=0.85)

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Authors
Kearns, N. A., Iatrou, A., Flood, D. J., De Tissera, S., Mullaney, Z. M., Xu, J., Gaiteri, C., Bennett, D. A., & Wang, Y.
Affiliations
Rush University Medical Center (US)
Corresponding author
Wang, Yanling
Venue
Nature Communications
Published
2023-11-03
Volume
14
Issue
1
Pages
7036-7036
ISSN
2041-1723 (ISSN-L)
OpenAlex
W4388303204
Cited by
75
References
74
Citations by year
2026: 33 · 2025: 23 · 2024: 17 · 2023: 2
FWCI
6.68
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • Nature Communications (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • bioRxiv (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory) (acceptedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
U.S. Department of Health & Human Services | NIH | National Institute on Aging (R01AG074082, R01AG079223, R01AG061798, P30AG10161, P30AG72975, R01AG015819, R01AG017917, U01AG61356)
Topics
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Single-cell and spatial transcriptomics
  • Life Sciences › Neuroscience › Neurology › Neuroinflammation and Neurodegeneration Mechanisms
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Physiology › Alzheimer's disease research and treatments
Keywords
meningeal immunity, Alzheimer's disease, Alzheimer's dementia, border-associated macrophages, mural cells, meningeal fibroblasts, tissue-resident memory T cells, CD8+ T cells, single-nucleus RNA sequencing, postmortem brain, aging, neurodegeneration, amyloid-beta, intercellular communication, ligand-receptor interactions, fibroblast reprogramming
MeSH terms
Aged, Aging, Alzheimer Disease, Humans, Macrophages, Meninges, Microglia, Genome-Wide Association Study

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