Single-cell transcriptome sequencing partially revealed the changes of T cells in the early stage of aging kidney

Abstract

Aging is a gradual, inevitable physiologic process. The organ aging is related to the persistence of chronic inflammation, but the understanding of inflammatory state during renal aging is lacking currently. Single-cell transcriptome sequencing was performed on aging mouse kidney to reveal the molecular phenotype and composition changes of different cell types. In the early stage of aging, immune cells such as T, B cells and mononuclear macrophages increased in kidney. The molecular state of T cells in aging kidney changed and polarized. Among them, we identified a group of GZMK⁺ CD8 ⁺ T cells with high expression of Eomes, Pdcd1 and Ifng and a group of Il17a⁺ T cells with high expression of Il17a and Il23r. Moreover, the cytokines and inflammations can aggravate tissue damage eventually. Furthermore, we found the interaction between different types of epithelial cells and T cells increased during the renal aging. These results identify the changes of T cells in the early stage of aging kidney and suggest that GZMK⁺CD8⁺ T cells might be a potential target to ameliorate age-associated dysfunctions of kidney(Graphical Abstract).