Date of Graduation

5-2024

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering

Degree Level

Undergraduate

Department

Biomedical Engineering

Advisor/Mentor

Nelson, Christopher

Abstract

The repair of traumatic muscle injury is often a long process which can in many cases be insufficient and incomplete. In such cases, scar tissue may form, leading to high risk of re-injury and the prevention of muscle regeneration. An important part of decreasing this risk is gaining a better understanding of the cellular complexities of injury repair. More specifically, macrophage cells are an important piece in the regulation of inflammation and repair. In this project, computational analysis spatial transcriptomic data was performed to examine mouse muscle injury and its development over time. This analysis was used to examine the dysregulation of M1 phase macrophages (inflammatory) and M2 phase macrophages (anti-inflammatory) during the course of the healing process. Single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) data is a useful tool to analyze the function and mechanisms of cell groups responding to muscle injuries but loses the spatial context that is important in determining function. Using spatial transcriptomic methods alongside it has allowed for the recovery of the lost spatial information as gene expression and cell grouping locations are mapped in the wounds. Through spatial transcriptomic analysis, expression of macrophages was able to be visualized in the context of both space and time. Excisional mice wounds were examined 2-, 5- and 7 days post injury. In these plots, pro-inflammatory macrophages can be seen localizing closer to the site of injury and decrease over time, while anti-inflammatory macrophages increase overtime and spread throughout the tissue histology.

Keywords

Spatial Transcriptomics; Muscle; Macrophages

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