Inside the Joint of Inflammatory Arthritis Patients: Handling and Processing of Synovial Tissue Biopsies for High Throughput Analysis

Frontiers in Medicine

article

Achilleas Floudas¹  Aine Gorman²  Nuno Neto³  Michael G. Monaghan³  Zoe Elliott²  Ursula Fearon¹  Viviana Marzaioli¹ 

[1] Molecular Rheumatology, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin;European League Against Rheumatism ,(EULAR) Centre of Excellence, Centre for Arthritis and Rheumatic Diseases, St. Vincent's University Hospital, University College Dublin;Trinity Centre for Biomedical Engineering, Trinity Biomedical Sciences Institute, Trinity College Dublin

关键词: inflammatory arthritis;    synovial membrane;    functional analysis;    single cell analysis;    synovial biopsies;    new technologies;   

DOI  :  10.3389/fmed.2022.830998

学科分类：社会科学、人文和艺术（综合）

来源: Frontiers

【 摘 要 】

Inflammatory arthritis is a chronic systemic autoimmune disease of unknown etiology, which affects the joints. If untreated, these diseases can have a detrimental effect on the patient’s quality of life, leading to disabilities, and therefore, exhibit a significant socioeconomic impact and burden. While studies of immune cell populations in arthritis patient’s peripheral blood have been informative regarding potential immune cell dysfunction and possible patient stratification, there are considerable limitations in identifying the early events that lead to synovial inflammation. The joint, as the site of inflammation and the local microenvironment, exhibit unique characteristics that contribute to disease pathogenesis. Understanding the contribution of immune and stromal cell interactions within the inflamed joint has been met with several technical challenges. Additionally, the limited availability of synovial tissue biopsies is a key incentive for the utilization of high-throughput techniques in order to maximize information gain. This review aims to provide an overview of key methods and novel techniques that are used in the handling, processing and analysis of synovial tissue biopsies and the potential synergy between these techniques. Herein, we describe the utilization of high dimensionality flow cytometric analysis, single cell RNA sequencing, ex vivo functional assays and non-intrusive metabolic characterization of synovial cells on a single cell level based on fluorescent lifetime imaging microscopy. Additionally, we recommend important points of consideration regarding the effect of different storage and handling techniques on downstream analysis of synovial tissue samples. The introduction of new powerful techniques in the study of synovial tissue inflammation, brings new challenges but importantly, significant opportunities. Implementation of novel approaches will accelerate our path toward understanding of the mechanisms involved in the pathogenesis of inflammatory arthritis and lead to the identification of new avenues of therapeutic intervention.

【 授权许可】

CC BY