Obesity-instructed TREM2-high macrophages identified by comparative analysis of diabetic mouse and human kidney at single-cell resolution [scRNA-seq: DKD_mouse]

The cross-species molecular heterogeneity from mice to patients poses grand challenges for translational research endeavors. A high-fat diet (HFD) model and a genetic model (BTBR ob/ob) at different stand points were used to generate cell atlases of diabetic and obese mise. We identified a previously unrecognized, expanding Trem2-High macrophage population in kidneys of HFD mice that modeled human TREM2-high macrophages in obese patients. Taken together, our cross-species comparison highlights shared immune and metabolic cell-state changes.