✍🏼 Sloan A. Lewisa, Isaac R. Cincob, Brianna M. Dorattb, Madison B. Blantonb,c, Cherise Hoaglandd, Natali Newmand, Michael Daviesd, Kathleen A. Grantd, Ilhem Messaoudi
🏠 Department of Molecular Biology and Biochemistry, School of Biological Sciences, University of California Irvine, CA
📑 eBioMedicine (2023)
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Abstract
In this study on chronic alcohol consumption and lung immune responses, WOLF is not used as a term or concept; rather, the article investigates how chronic heavy drinking affects the innate immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection in lung tissue, using human and non-human primate samples to assess changes in antiviral cytokine induction and immune cell transcriptional profiles. The work employs single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq) and functional immunological assays to characterize dysregulated pathways in bronchoalveolar lavage cells after chronic ethanol exposure, demonstrating that alcohol alters macrophage and other immune responses that are critical for effective antiviral defense.
How the WOLF was used in this study
The WOLF benchtop cell sorter (Nanocellect) was incorporated into the experimental workflow to isolate specific cell populations from complex tissues for downstream analysis. After enzymatic dissociation of lung tissues into single-cell suspensions, researchers used the WOLF’s gentle, low-pressure microfluidic sorting to enrich for defined immune or epithelial cell subsets based on fluorescence and scatter properties, while excluding dead cells and debris. This sorting step ensured high viability and purity of targeted cells, which was critical for accurate transcriptomic profiling and functional assays assessing how chronic alcohol exposure alters innate immune cell composition and inflammatory gene expression in the lung. By preserving cell integrity and RNA quality, the WOLF sorter improved the reliability of downstream molecular analyses necessary to define the cellular mechanisms by which alcohol perturbs pulmonary immunity.
